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Yes, that's right. There is more detailed information about the FAS-DPD procedures here, but I think you've gotten a reliable result.

Dollar-store panty hose works, too, if you don't want to sacrifice a sock to the pool gods.

I need more coffee. That is the case. Always trust PoolMath over a knucklehead like me.

If you haven't opened it, and the bag is undamaged, it's almost certainly fine. [edited to remove bad info and bring a little less shame to my dojo]

@poolpartytownie forgot to mention that his new house was a converted from an old YMCA.

Phosphates are measured in parts per billion. 42 ppb is minuscule, but even if it weren't, you can completely ignore phosphates if you keep your chlorine to CYA ratio in the TFP recommended ranges. Even if you do decide to take the optional step of lowering phosphates, you shouldn't consider it...

How did you test phosphates with a Taylor K-2006C?

Yes, and... You have iron in your water that hasn't been oxidized to become rust yet. Rust (iron oxides) are easier to remove from water than soluble iron. Part of the reason that you want to keep your chlorine high is that chlorine oxidizes iron relatively fast. It makes the soluble iron rust...

Glad I caught this. I've been planning an AA treatment, but I will now wait till January. My water will never hit 60, but I'm guessing the colder the better. Hopefully 75 degrees and Polyquat 60 will keep the green away.

I know at this point in my life to allow more time than I think it should take to get one started. I'm sure if we used them regularly we'd master them, but I get them out so rarely that I have to stumble through it every time.

They can be more frustrating than they should, but I'll be surprised if it takes you as long as five minutes. I'd get it threaded while on an air-conditioned couch and then take it out and put it on the bucket.

At the risk of seeming like a shill for TF Test Kits, you can count on their sending fresh reagents. I went with a Taylor K-2006C from Amazon and only realized once I had a little more experience under my belt that I got lucky with the reagent freshness I received. I didn't regret the Amazon...

Again, I feel you. I'd be willing to pony up pretty big for a reliable drop test for CYA accurate to +/- 1ppm. But as others have indicated, the standard turbidity test is all that's practical, and it's good enough. What you can do, however, is order a standard 50 ppm solution from TF Test Kits...

As a dedicated member of #TeamRunHot, I'd like to be able to disable this. But I understand why it's there. @JessBlount617, please forgive that sidebar. Loving your attitude, work ethic, and progress!

A CC of 0.0 indicates that your active chlorine isn't finding more organic material in the pool than it can quickly kill. That's good. Don't be afraid to run your FC at the top of the range if you're nervous about algae. I and many others do so. A downside is that swimwear won't last quite as...

That's fine, assuming the other ingredients are inert fillers. Liquid chlorine loses potency over time, and sooner than we'd like. Your volume could be spot on and your liquid chlorine might just have gotten weaker. All you can really do about that is to buy as fresh as you can and store it in...

The wonders of Amazon. It opens to a single unit for me. Go figure. Anyway, I'd stick with that model. It's earned a good reputation around these parts.

A water softener in proper working order is not going to add enough salt to your pool to matter. It doesn't even add enough salt to tap water that any but the most sodium-sensitive blood-pressure patients have to worry about drinking it. It's truly miniscule.

@P00LNerd, I understand from a first-person perspective the need to over-complicate things, but it's really just as simple as this. I looked into stenner pumps and automated dispensers for a while before I got used to just using a pitcher and reserving my puck feeder for vacations. Pitchers are...

I may have that printed on a t-shirt with a swimming pool graphic.

Apera PH60 : I've only had it a few months, so I can't speak to longevity, but it's accuracy, precision, and ease of use are great. Way better than one would expect for the price.

Oh, and CYA monthly or as needed. That was pre-2nd-cup-of-coffee. I check other stuff intermittently, too, but some are purely optional, like borates and phosphates, and some, like calcium, don't move enough for me to check unless I'm bored. I check TA the day after MA additions, but it's pretty...

🎶Your pool's so bright, you gotta wear shades... you gotta wear shades🎶

I check FC, pH, and temperature daily. If I didn't have a pH meter that made it so easy to measure pH, I'd only check it a couple of times a week. I add liquid chlorine daily. I add muriatic acid every other week or so. My water stays crystal clear.

Then you're going to want to go SWCG for sure. I think someone called it out above, but remember when you're reading up and pricing things out that you want a SWCG that's rated for twice your pool volume or more. I'm still a relative newcomer here, but I'd say between chlorine tablets and...

TFP-recommended levels of chlorine and CYA are thoroughly algaecidal. You won't have to worry about any other algaecides. Also, keeping copper out of your pool will keep your swimmers' hair from turning green.

This is the only reliable style that I'm aware of. There are a couple of automated dispensers on the market, but if you read the reviews, they get dinged badly for reliability and longevity. It takes me five minutes a day to test my FC and pH and add liquid chlorine. Once it's part of your...

The coarsest Pebbletec tears my feet up, but anything finer than the coarsest grade is not a problem for me. When I was speccing to build at my old house, I was going to go with plaster, but we bought a house with an existing pool instead. It has what I think is the mid-level of Pebbletec, and...

Note that, if your pool gets substantial sunlight, it will very gradually lose CYA. My pool gets a ton of Florida sun, and I'm losing 10-15 ppm per month this time of year. I don't know if you could count on that in Pennsylvania, but if your pool gets good sun and your CYA is just a little out...