How To Maintain A Swimming Pool Part 2 (Testing)

There are several different ways to test your swimming pool water. Beginners often opt to use test strips. Test strips offer accurate reading an are simple to use. The only downside to using test strips is that most people are unable to tell the difference between various color shades. To use a test strip you would simply dip the test strip into the water for approximately 15 seconds, pull it out and match the colors to a color chart.

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Digital test strips are also available for water testing. The digital reader has a slot where a test strip would be inserted. You would test the water in the same manner as above except for the fact that the digital reader will display a numerical read out of the chemical levels.

Liquid test kits are used by a majority of swimming pool owners and swimming pool technicians. They offer very accurate readings. I have used these liquid test kits to perform thousands of water tests. To use a liquid test kit, you would add water to a comparator's indicator lines then add the testing reagent. Depending on the chemical you're testing for, you will need to add a certain amount of drops to get a reading. The downsides to liquid testers is either the incorrect amount of water is added to the comparator or the reagent bottle is held improperly causing different sized drops which will result in an inaccurate reading.

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Tablets are also available for swimming pool water testing. The method used with the tablets is the same as the liquid test kits except for the fact that tablets are used instead of reagents. Most commercial maintenance techs use this method.

Once you've selected the method that works best for you, you would simply follow the instructions that come with the kit. If you are uncomfortable testing your pool water yourself, you can always locate a local pool supply store that offers this service.

Click Here to Our Full Selection of Pool Chemicals (Chlorine, pH & Alkalinity Adjuster, Stabilizer and More)

Click Here to View Our Water Chemistry Test Kit