First post after many weeks of reading the forums and pool school, what an amazing set of DIY resources! One variable I didn't commmit to memory was CH. Unfortunately the girl at the pool store sold me on "hardness up" because "if I kept itat my current level (40ppm) it would damage the hardware." She then insisted that washing soda would lower my pH...
Just to make sure, low CH would contribute to any mechanical failures or cause the pool to be cloudy, correct?
We're on day 7 of modified BBB (using liquid 12.5% from the pool store because it's cheaper and they reuse containers), and we went from pond scum to seeing the shallow end 4' deep. The daily regime of holding shock while scrubbing continues, while waiting for my Taylor kit to arrive. My wife is loosing hope, as we've plateaued at a cloudy slightly green the past few days. All we have are test strips, guessing my way to keeping it over 10ppm (pool store tested our CYA at 20). Fingers crossed.