You are getting great advice here. We were pool newbys with a build this spring and after spending $350 to (attempt to) get balanced the pool store way, I finally saw the light on my last visit to the pool store when I was buying my last round of chemicals and asked them point blank "Can't I lower my alkalinity with baking soda?" and the owner and his wife both looked at each other with a befuddled expression and responded "No we think that baking soda is used to lower ph". That was my last trip there. (And we still have a very expensive and unopened bottle of commercial phosphate remover that we cant return) I have been using the TFP method ever since and have had wonderfully balanced water all summer. Thank you, my TFP heros!