umm sorta. , if u now that u have a high chlorine content then leave your water out over night and it should evap as far as testing ph ' my whole job auctually revolves around perfect waste waster ph' but anyways.ph in my words is a scale of base. it is a general number for or caustics and acids.not cholrine.if u want to test for co then u need a hard water test kit"u can find them for fish tanks and hut tubs.. ph is not about clorine,taking a tds sample gives u a idea of how much crap is in your water.yor tds meter is helpfull in this event. your nutrient bottle ses "at this stage u need 400 ppm so add 2 tbs for this stage of growth and u will achieve this .but if your tap water is allready at 250ppm and u add what the bottle ses u would have a ppm of 650 and over fert your plants.sorry im really tired and trying to explain this the best i can. your nutrient solution will give u the exact ratio u need for water and nutrient solution. if your tds reads to high u need to add water to your solution.it will dilute your nutrient and give u a lower ppm number.but your on the right track