Choose The Best Pool Test Kit

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Choose The Best Pool Test Kit

Every pool owner wants to have a clean, clear, and safe place to swim in. However, without a special tool that checks the quality of water, and its content, you won’t determine the level of chlorine, for instance. Pool Test Kit is a device that will help you to be sure about the content of the water in your pool. It also allows you to measure the pH level, total alkalinity, cyanuric acid levels, and even the amount of salt in the saltwater pools.

According to the size and type of the pool you want to check, it is significant to get the pool test kit to achieve the proper balance of chemicals that will protect your pool from bacteria and plant growth and be sure that the water is safe to swim without getting allergies or irritated rash due to chemicals.

What To Consider When Choosing The Best Pool Test Kit

Don’t use any pool set kit without understanding what you need for the pool. First of all, determine the type of the pool test device, the type of water in the pool, and several test elements that may include pH, alkalinity, salt level, and many others.

Types Of The Pool Test Kits

There are three types of pool test kits available on the market that operate similar checks of the pool water. However, the checking process differs between them. These pool test kits are liquid test kits, test strips, and digital test kits that are described below.

Liquid Pool Test Kits

Liquid Pool Test Kits are also known as titrimetric pool test devices. This equipment is generally used because of its quite affordable price and maximum level of precision. Furthermore, liquid test kits are quite complicated to use as it is required to take a sample of pool water and then apply the proper amount of water drops to identify the balance of chemicals and pH of the pool water. These Pool Test Kits commonly include from two to seven dropper bottles with a specific reagent to determine the pool water in each.

Pool Test Strips

Pool Test Strips are also called colorimetric pool test kits. This pool test kit is affordable and easy-to-use equipment. However, the results are less precise than the Liquid Pool Test Kit gets. The Pool Test Strips principle is dripping the strip into the pool water and then determining the color with that additional chart. The precision of this equipment is quite a complicated task as the color results may be determined differently according to the person’s subjective opinion. These Pool Test Kits may typically test up to several different aspects with only one strip.

Digital Pool Test Kits

Digital Pool Test Kits is a device with a set of metallic probes that help to check the quality of the pool water. When the probes are inserted into the pool water sample, they show the reading on the electronic display offering to determine the pH level or chlorine balance in a few seconds. The only disadvantage of this equipment is that it is capable of measuring only one or two aspects, that is why you may take measurements with separate measurement devices for determining pH and chlorine levels. The Digital Pool Test Kits are also more expensive than the other pool test kits.

Types Of The Water In The Pool

There are several types of water in the pool such as saltwater, chlorine, or bromine that impacts the pool test kit that will be required for the proper measurement of the pH, alkalinity, and other chemical levels.

Pools with saltwater use a salt-chlorine generator that offers the needed amount of chlorine for the pool. It means that pools with saltwater require pool test kits for saltwater to allow you to analyze water for the amount of salt and determine the pH and chlorine levels and several additional aspects. The saltwater pool test kits may differ from the typical pool test kit, that is why it will be better to get both devices for the proper checks of the pool.

Pools with chlorine water work by the principle when a special pump and filtration systems circulate chlorine in the water thus protecting it from several bacteria and algae that may grow in the pool. You may use a typical pool test kit for measuring the pH and chlorine levels for the chlorine water pools. You may also get the pool test kit that can offer you checks of several factors such as cyanuric acid, bromine, and calcium hardness.

Pools with bromine water are typically the same as chlorine pools, instead of the clearance and health of the water. You may use the pool test kits even the same that you would use for the chlorine water pools as they use the same reagents. Whether it is chlorine or bromine water in the pool, the orthotolidine will be used.

types of the water in the pool

Test Elements

When deciding what type of pool test kit to choose, it is significant to pay attention to the aspects the device can determine. Not every digital or liquid pool test device may determine calcium hardness, alkalinity, or anything else. Furthermore, even a typical pool test kit may read the pH balance and the chlorine and bromine levels as well.

There is a list of most typical factors that should be checked with the pool test kit:

The level of chlorine should be in the range of 1 to 3 ppm to provide water safety without causing skin irritations and rash.

The level of bromine has a bit bigger range than the chlorine level does. It should range from 2 to 6 ppm for the ideal water in the pool.

The proper pH level in the pool water should range from 7.2 to 7.8 on the specific pH scale. When the pH level of the water is less than 7,  itchiness and irritating rashes may be caused as the water is acidic. When there is a higher pH level than 7.8, the pool water will be dangerous to swim in as it may cause eye irritation.

Total alkalinity helps you to measure the carbonate and bicarbonate levels in the pool water. It should range from 8 to 120 ppm for considering the pool water safe.

There is another common and important test. The calcium hardness is required to range between 180 to 220 ppm.

Cyanuric acid is a type of stabilizer as it helps to prevent chlorine from breaking down under direct sunlight. The cyanuric acid should range from 300 to 50 ppm for the balanced water in the pool.

Precision

The precision of the pool test kits relies on the types of the test device and can vary between specific products and even users.

When the liquid pool test kits are used correctly, they will provide maximum accuracy. Nevertheless, you need to take a sample of the pool water, use special reagents and provide a comparison of the sample color results to an added scale. The main risk to get inaccurate results is provided by the human mistaken opinion.

Pool test strips are quite simpler to use than the liquid pool test kit, however, they’re less accurate. The results depend on human opinion and a color-coded scale.

Digital Pool Test Kits provide the most precise results. You will get the needed measurement readings on the pool test device’s display, generally within 1 or 2 percent. The only disadvantage is that it can determine only one or two aspects.

Precision

Easy To Use

The pool test kits are the estimation of the chemical level of the pool water. The use of the pool test kits may influence the outcome results. That is why the ease of use is significant especially when you need to take several measurements.

Liquid pool test kits are the toughest equipment to use because you need to apply reagent to the pool water sample with small droppers. If you add too many drops or too few drops, the wrong amount of drops will influence the measurement results. After that, you should compare the taken results with the added color-coded chart that will achieve the proper measurement interpretation. Nevertheless, when you take measurements properly, the liquid pool test kit will provide you with precise results.

Pool test strips provide similar limitations to their accuracy, however, these pool test devices are very simple to use. You need just to pull the pool test strip to the water, allowing it to change the color, and after that compare the achieved color with the color-coded chart.

Digital pool test kits are the most precise and the easiest to use. This pool test device just requires to be switched on and have the properly settled menu. When the digital pool test kit is ready to take measurements, you need to pull the metallic testing prongs into the pool water sample and you will get the measurement readings on the device’s display automatically in a few seconds. The digital pool test kits are the best devices for taking measurements of one or two aspects, especially determining pH or chlorine level.

What Pool Test Kit To Choose?

To choose the best pool kit you should be sure that the pool chemicals are balanced and the pool pump and filtration system are functioning correctly for the proper work with the pool test kit. We have selected top picks of the pool test kits based on the types of the devices, test aspects, precision, and quality to offer you to find the best pool test kit for your pool.

Helpful Points

It may seem that using the pool test kit is quite a complicated task. Some helpful points will help you to use the pool test kit properly.

The pool test kit includes several reagents that are required to be used during the measurements. Just add the reagent to the pool water to determine the pH or chlorine level. Several pool test kits may include only two types of reagents, while other devices may have up to 7 and more reagents according to the design and type of the test kit.

Try to check the balance of the pool water two to three times per week according to the amount of time the pool is used.

Check the expiration date of the reagents as they may break down over time. Be sure to change the pool test kit when it has expired or broken.

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