yeah it's the same pool. I had a rough opening this year and the cloudiness was due to algae. I was using test strips at the time, before i picked up the HTH kit. Don't think I was getting an accurate reading back then. But then again after two months of adding fill water with this high of Alk, its no surprise to me of my high readings now. My pool was at 320 at one time, but now I have it down to 190. I've been using muriatic acid, and somewhat doing the aeriation. I have my return jet pointed up to ripple the water. I guess what I was wondering was if there was anyone who had a different trick that address the problem at the time of adding fill water. The aeriation process is slow.