pH And Total Alkalinity low

[ChrisH]

I do not have fancy tester but here's the thing - chlorine is ideal, but I cannot get pH or total alkalinity to register. In the last several day I added an entire bottle of pH Add to no avail. Have not done anything for alkalinity as of yet. Our pool is 18 x 36 in ground and the temp of water is approx 88 - 90 degrees F. Very hot here right now. Water is very clear but have been fighting some algae. I saw a post about 20 team borax to add to raise pH - any other suggestions of what I should do? I am using strips right now to test and also verifying with drop but always with both testers the pH is at the bottom.

[chem geek]

Get yourself a good test kit -- the Taylor K-2006 kit at a good online price here or the TF100 test kit from tftestkits(dot)com here with the latter kit having 36% more volume of reagents so is comparably priced per test.

You can read more about how to clear a pool of algae here.

[muss08]

You really need a good test kit. There is not way to know if your chlorine level is "ideal" without knowing your pH and cyanuric acid levels.