[sammyg2]

I have a pool that I DYI, I use both the strips and the multi-test kit. Once i get it dialed in, the strips are accurate for mid-week tests. But if it's way off the strips can lie to you.

In fact, I've gotten to know the pool so well that I can usually tell what it needs without testing every single time. I have a chlorine gererator so that makes it a little easier. I still have to add chlorine sometimes but not as often, but I have to add acid more often.
The only part I don't trust to the strips is salt content. I get the same exact reading every time, 3600 ppm. No matter if it has lots of salt or not very much. I figure those strips are bogus.
About once a month i take a ziplock full of water to the pool store and they run it for free so they can sell chemicals. That is a good way to double-check.

I have to add a little cynauric acid in powder form once in a while but not very often.
Iffn I were you I'd try to lower it over time instead of draining and re-filling, especially in AZ. They are fully about water in the desert. How much would a drain and re-fill cost there?