No matter what sort of pool or hot tub you own, water testing is an absolute must.
In simple terms, water testing ensures your pool remains safe to swim in by monitoring the chemical balance of the water. If your pool water chemical levels are too high or too low, the water’s safety and hygiene can be compromised. This could put you at risk when swimming for extended periods and affect the longevity of your pool by damaging pumps and filters.
The good news is you can test your water quickly, simply and affordably by using pool and hot tub test strips. We’re proud to supply pool and spa test strips from AquaChek – one of the world’s leading manufacturers of pool test trips and a reliable provider for all your pool testing needs.
What are spa test strips?
Hot tub and pool test strips provide a quick and easy way to check the chemical levels of your water. While you can also use tablet tests to measure your water balance, test strips are much easier to use.
Pool and spa test strips determine the chemical levels for a number of chemical parameters of your water, including:
Free chlorine
Total chlorine
Total bromine
pH
Total alkalinity
Other parameters including calcium hardness, cyanuric acid levels and dissolved solid levels
The primary purpose of pool and hot tub test strips is to determine the chlorine, pH and alkalinity levels of your water. As part of our range, you can either buy various types of pool test strips (usually in packs of 50) or, for increased accuracy, a digital test strip reader which offers fast, accurate, digital results from your paper test strips.
How do you use pool test strips?
Using chlorine test strips is an incredibly fast and easy process. To carry out a test, simply dip a test strip in the water and remove it immediately. After around 15 seconds, colours should appear on the strip for each chemical value listed. All you need to do is compare those to the colour charts provided on your test strip container to get your results. As a general rule of thumb, darker colours will indicate a higher concentration of chemicals, while lighter colours will indicate a lower presence.
It’s worth noting that to take an accurate sample, you are best conducting your test from the surface of the centre of your pool, as the chemical makeup of the water can be different in different areas of the pool or hot tub.
Need some help?
Testing your pool is a super easy and effective process, but that doesn’t mean you won't have questions about the best pool and hot tub test strips for your needs or about what to do if your chemical levels are off. We’re always here to help, so if you need to speak to us about anything, please don’t hesitate to get in touch.
