Anyway to not open the pool this summer?

[KirstenHW]

Really? That would be easier - I was basing it on Ben's sticky / item #2 for if pH is too low at opening: http://www.poolforum.com/pf2/showthread.php?t=190

Thx!

[aylad]

That sticky deals specifically with calcium and alkalinity changes, not for chlorine. The only reason I could see to wait until your pH is all the way up into recommended ranges is that pH tends to measure falsely high when chlorine is above 10 ppm or so. So if your pH is a LITTLE low and you can safely get it into your target range with a small addition of Borax, then go ahead and do that, then start shocking with chlorine. However, if your pH is 6.8 or lower (and 6.8 is the lowest that most testers will read, so if it's reading 6.8, then it may actually be much lower) and you anticipate LOTS of Borax to be added, then I would play it safe and get the pH up where you want it before you start shocking.

Janet