Testing your pool water is an essential part of pool maintenance.
It’s how you know your chemical balance is where it should be. But, unless you know when and how to use pool test strips, you could be misinterpreting your water test results.
How to Use Pool Test Strips
Test strips are the quickest and easiest way to test your pool water. And they’re an essential item to have on hand for regular pool maintenance.
Most pool test strips test total hardness, total chlorine, total bromine, free chlorine, pH, total alkalinity, and Cyanuric acid (or CYA). These work as both pool and spa test strips. You can also find specialty test strips that check for metals like copper and iron or salt levels for saltwater pools.
1. Collect a Pool Water Sample:
Before you collect the sample, turn your pump on high and let the water circulate for at least an hour. If you test stagnant water, the results may not be as accurate.
Using a clean, glass cup, reach your arm into your pool elbow deep and collect some pool water. Avoid collecting surface water or water near floating chemical dispensers or pool returns, since this may affect the accuracy of your test results.
2. Dip the Test Strip into the Water:
Dip the pool test strip into the water and quickly remove it. There’s no need to keep it submerged or soak it in the water. Just make sure your finger doesn’t go into the water.
3. Allow the Test Strip to Develop and Measure Results:
Hold the strip in the air for about 15 seconds. Do not shake it. Then hold the strip next to the test packaging to compare the color chart. Match it up to see where your levels are.
4. Adjust Your Pool Chemicals Accordingly:
Use the colored chart on the pool water test strips packaging to determine what chemicals need balancing. You’ll want to adjust your water chemistry based on the normal ranges for each chemical.
- Total Calcium Hardness: 200-400 ppm
- Total Chlorine: 3 ppm (close to Free Chlorine levels)
- Free Chlorine: 1-3 ppm
- Cyanuric Acid (Stabilizer): 30-50 ppm
- pH: 7.4-7.6
- Total Alkalinity: 100-150 ppm
Here’s an example of a pool test strip chart:
Click here to read more > https://bit.ly/3FjnuuF
Source: Swim University
#SwimmingPool #PoolBuilder #PoolContractor #PoolTest #PoolTips #PoolDesigner
