To get your pH back up, you can use Borax. It will have the additional effect of adding a tiny bit of Borates to the water. I'd only shoot for getting it from 6.8 - 7.2, don't want to go too far. Also, the MA wil reduce your TA, while the borax will increase it a little, but considerably less than using the pH up/Soda Ash. I, and most of the site, prefer Borax over Soda Ash in that regard. You can find Borax as a laundry detergent booster product in just about every grocery store as "20 Mule Team Laundry Detergent Booster." It's about $3 or $4 for a box, I'd buy a few boxes to keep handy.
Since your store is using Taylor, that's at least a good sign that their equipment is better than average. I went to 3 pool stores in my area once I learned how to test my water, to compare the results in order to know who I could trust in a pinch (So if family/friends asked, and they refused to do their own, I had a recommendation), and the only one that was good was a place that used a Taylor kit, with speed stir, and the person behind the counter understood what the tests were. They still messed up the CYA test because their charts stop at 100, so 100 is what they say even if it's 200000, but the other tests were spot on.
Since your store is using Taylor, that's at least a good sign that their equipment is better than average. I went to 3 pool stores in my area once I learned how to test my water, to compare the results in order to know who I could trust in a pinch (So if family/friends asked, and they refused to do their own, I had a recommendation), and the only one that was good was a place that used a Taylor kit, with speed stir, and the person behind the counter understood what the tests were. They still messed up the CYA test because their charts stop at 100, so 100 is what they say even if it's 200000, but the other tests were spot on.
