Thank you, B.L., for your inquiry.  The  WaterWorks Total Hardness Test Strips (480008) CAN get used to test pool water.

Importance of Water Hardness in Swimming Pools

Pool owners should test for water hardness for several reasons including:

• Soft water (low hardness) can act in a corrosive manner and 'pull' elements out of pool surfaces resulting in liner damage and/or pitting of pool surfaces.
   
• Hard water (high hardness) will not allow other chemicals such as chlorine tablets and powders or pool water balancing chemicals to dissolve in the water.
   
• Very hard water may leave tough-to-remove calcium deposits on pool surfaces.
   
• Improper water hardness balance in pool water can result in other chemicals not functioning properly.

What is Difference Between Calcium Hardness and Total Hardness?

Total hardness readings include concentrations of calcium as well as magnesium where as calcium hardness readings include only dissolved calcium concentrations.

What is Considered Hard Water and What is Considered Soft Water?

For drinking water, tap water and well water purposes:

• Very Soft Water: 0 - 40 ppm total hardness
   
• Soft Water: 40 - 120 ppm total hardness
   
• Hard Water: 120 - 425 ppm total hardness
   
• Very Hard Water: Greater Than 425 ppm total hardness

Grains per Gallon vs. Parts per Million

Depending upon where you look, water hardness gets reported as grains per gallon (GPG) or parts per million (PPM).

To convert between the two measurements, simply divide your parts per million value by 17.5 to get grains per gallon or multiply your grains per gallon value by 17.5 to get parts per million.

This year’s simple pool test kit lineup includes the Pool Check 3-Way, 4-Way, 5-Way, and 6-Way test strips.

We also carry the Taylor Basic Phenol Red (pH) & OTO for Total Chlorine (K-1000), Taylor Basic Phenol Red (pH) & DPD for Free Chlorine (K-1001), and the Taylor Troubleshooter (K-1004) test kits.

No matter which test kit you select, please keep in mind that a test kit will do you absolutely no good if you never use it. Also, waiting until a problem starts to develop before you test will also do you no good.

Pool water testing alerts you to water quality deficiencies that could result in water quality issues (i.e. cloudiness, algae, stains, etc.). Catching the deficiency before it turns into a problem can save you hours of aggravation and quite a bit of money in chemicals that treat algae, cloudiness, staining, and other water problems.

Preferred water quality levels

Another question we get each year: “What levels should my pool water have?”

Below you will find a list of basic pool water parameters along with their optimal ranges:

• pH: 7.2 – 7.8
• Free Chlorine: 1.0 – 2.0 ppm
• Total Alkalinity: 80 – 120 ppm
• Calcium Hardness: 180 – 220 ppm, though some say 200 – 400 ppm for plaster and/or gunite pools..
• Cyanuric Acid: 25 – 50 ppm
• Total Dissolved Solids: 500 – 5000 ppm

Please note, however, that not all pools will require the exact same water chemistry to stay safe for swimming and crystal clear so if you have doubts about specific pool water quality concerns, definitely get in touch with a pool water professional (i.e. service company or staff in a local pool store) before adding water treatment chemicals.

Adding the wrong chemicals can make a problem much worse and often times a lot more expensive to correct!

Hi and thank you for the recent post on when to test pool water. We have had our pool for only one season now and did the dumb thing of believing the pool sales jerk when he said we don’t have to test but once or twice a month. We spent a FORTUNE trying to get the water to stay clear and then when we tested more using the test strips that came with our kit the results were crazy high one day crazy high the next and the directions read like a bad foreign subtitle film. Do all pool strips get made in places outside the US? Also can test strips actually do the job or do we need something else? Thanks, May

Well, May, we DO know of several pool test strip manufacturers located here in the United States and as you probably saw in our water test kit store that at this time we carry the Pool Check Brand of pool test strips in a variety of configurations: 3-Way, 4-Way, 5-Way, and 6-Way.

We decided to carry the Pool Check Brand for a number of reasons:

• Easy-to-follow directions written right on the bottle.
   
• Pool Check test strips get manufactured in the United States by Industrial Test Systems, Inc. — which has its headquarters in South Carolina.
   
• Wider detection ranges and we believe that Pool Check color charts have more precision than many other brands currently available.
   
• We have worked in the field and at our own homes with Pool Check products for many years and have always felt confident that we could trust the water test results we got during testing.

As for whether or not Pool Check (or any pool testing product for that matter) will work well for you, that all depends on your water quality situation. If too far out of whack, then pretty much no at-home testing product will give accurate results… so we suggest taking your water at the beginning of the season (right after you open the pool) to a local pool store and having them test it — so you can hopefully start the season off right..

Yes, they will more than likely tell you that you need this, that, and the other thing to get your water balanced, but at least you will know that you have done what you needed to do to get the water balanced, clear, and safe. Follow their instructions and then use products like the Pool Check brand of test strips to make sure important water quality parameters have not started to drift from acceptable levels.

In our opinion, a properly monitored pool should rarely, if ever, have any serious algae or clarity problems stemming from water quality unless outside factors (i.e. chemical feeder malfunction, excessive bather load, kids forgot to add chlorine for a week, etc.) come into play.

Moral of the Story?

Start your swimming season the right way by having your water tested by a trained pool water professional. They will (or should…) test for more advanced things like metals (i.e. iron, copper, TDS, etc.) and get you headed in the right direction with crystal clear water that’s safe for swimming.

After that, use the water testing product that makes the most sense for your budget and water conditions to keep an eye on the quality of your water. By doing so you should have the ability catch potential water quality issues before they become… expensive water quality problems.

What do you mean by ‘regular basis’?

We will address this question first by giving a list of definite reasons to test one’s pool water:

• Brand New Pool – Better to run a full battery of tests that includes things like dissolved metals in your source water and remove any you find or risk having those metals come out of solution and stain your brand new pool when you add chlorine/bromine. Also, you will want to know exactly what to add (i.e. pH adjuster, alkalinity adjuster, hardness, etc.)
   
• Opening Your Pool – After adding source water, and before adding chemicals, test the water to make sure you have no dissolved metals and also so that you do not add other pool chemicals (i.e pH, alkalinity, hardness, etc.) unnecessarily.
   
• After a Natural Event – Test your water for the basics (i.e. sanitizer level, pH, alkalinity, hardness, etc.) after periods of heavy rain, heavy winds, etc.
   
• When Nature Calls – Should you ever realize that someone has taken a ‘phone call from Nature’ in your pool, get everyone out and follow suggested pool shocking practices which usually require maintaining sanitizer levels at or above a certain level for a specified period of time before allowing anyone back into the water.

  You will need to test for those elevated sanitizer levels in order to know that you have followed the procedure… and then you will need to test to make sure those have sufficiently decreased before allowing bathers to re-enter the water.
   

• In the Event of Algae and/or Cloudy Water – If either of these two pool water conditions afflicts your pool then you should certainly test the water to find the problem, obtain the correct chemicals to correct the problem, and test to make corrected the problem.
   
• After the Crowd Has Left – The larger the bather load, the greater the likelihood of a shift in a pool water chemistry balance. Suntan oils, sweat, and, um undetected ‘liquid accidents’ all have an effect on the water’s pH, alkalinity and sanitizer levels
   
• Closing Your Pool – Always test the water and correct any problems with the water before closing the pool because water problems that exist at the end of the season will only get worse when the pool sits idle over the Winter months.

Getting to the actual question in the title of this article, though, we suggest testing the water as often as you can. In all honesty, with the correct pool water testing product, taking a quick snapshot of your pool’s water quality ought not take more than about a minute.

We suggest daily pool testing, but let’s face it… kids, school, work, chasing the neighbor’s cat out of the yard, and darn near 1 million other things rob most of us of any remaining, few, and precious seconds of ‘free’ time as it is — so how about testing each time you go out to check the skimmer?

Or, for those with automatic chlorine or bromine feeders (very useful gadgets, by the way!), how about every time you go poolside to fill up your feeder?

In the end, though, just like the owners of private water wells, no government agent will come out and make you test the quality of your water. Therefore, it becomes a personal choice as to whether or not a pool owner wants to test regularly and potentially stop pool water problems before they get out of hand (cloudy water, algae, bacteria, parasites, etc.) … or spend money to correct each of those problems after they occur.

Economics of pool water testing?

A bottle of Pool Check 6-Way Test Strips costs around $12 and provides 50 fairly comprehensive pool tests… with each test taking a bout a minute.

On the other hand, not testing a pool regularly can result in a pool owner having to spend an estimated $4 to $6 per 10,000 gallons of pool water for shock (liquid or powdered), no less than $5 or $6 for a gallon of standard algaecide ($20+ for the concentrated stuff!), and in really bad cases… $20+ per quart for stain remover.

Did we mention that correcting pool water problems usually also involves time spent brushing down walls, backwashing (and possibly having to acid wash) filters clogged with algae, and getting a real workout scrubbing stains off of pool surfaces?

And in conclusion…

You do the math on whether or not regular pool water testing makes sense.

For more information on pool water testing, please check out the pool water section/category of this site.

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Importance of pool & spa testing

Water serves as a perfect breeding ground for all sorts of nasty, unwanted bacteria, parasites, insects, germs, diseases, etc. if not properly treated with sanitizing products like chlorine, bromine, ozone, ionizer systems, and other methods.

You will not KNOW that you have the correct amount of sanitizer(s) in your water unless you… test your pool/spa water on a regular basis.

So test chlorine/bromine and that’s it, right?

WRONG!

Other critical pool water parameters such as pH (is the water acidic or basic), total alkalinity (is the water properly buffered against radical pH changes), calcium hardness (does the water have enough calcium to keep it from becoming aggressive), chlorine stabilizer (self-explanatory), and dissolved metals (also self-explanatory) all play a vital role in helping to make sure pool water remains safe to swim in, pretty to look at, and not problematic for pool surfaces (i.e. liners, fittings, etc.).

Best test strip for testing a chlorine pool

Obviously WE believe strongly in testing for as many parameters as possible on a regular basis, but then again we actually enjoy testing water all the time. Ha ha. For the rest of the world, hitting what we call ‘The Big 5’ routinely ought to suffice:

• Free Chlorine — You main sanitizing agent.
• Total Chlorine — Helps you determine ‘good chlorine vs. bad chlorine’ count.
• pH — Is the water acidic or basic?
• Total Alkalinity — Is the water properly protected against sudden changes in the pH level?
• Calcium Hardness — Does the water have enough minerals to keep it from eating away at pool surfaces?

Most times if all these levels remain in balance a pool’s water will remain crystal clear and perfectly safe to swim in.

Tell us about saving money on pool chemicals

Pool owners who do NOT test their water for (at least) the basics on a regular basis tend to have a great number of algae outbreaks and problems with cloudy water than pool owners who do test their water regularly.

That means pool owners who do not test on a regular basis tend to need more algaecide, pool shock treatments, and clarifiers — all of which cost money.

Another way in which regular pool testing saves money involves not not adding more chemicals than your pool actually needs.

Testing the sanitizer level before adding more keeps you from adding too much and possibly either making the water unpleasant to swim in and/or making it harmful to various pool surfaces and components.

Moral of today’s story?

You will need to test your pool or spa water anyway so why pay full price in a few months when you can pick up what you need right now for 15% less money?

Plus picking up test strips will be one less thing your spouse will nag at you to do in a few months 😉

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For those not good with numbers, more than half failed the testing and that means unwitting registered guests of those hotels could have subjected themselves (and worse) their families to potentially unsafe swimming conditions and not have known it.

Worse, yet? Sometimes the illnesses picked up from one spot (i.e. pool, spa, water park, etc.) do not manifest themselves until several days or a week later and unknowing infected swimmers frequent more than one pool… Need we say more?

Regardless of your answer to that question, we will continue because not enough people concern themselves with healthy swimming practices — and that concerns us.

Before joining our staff a member of our team contracted a rather unpleasant (and itchy!) skin condition after having a few too many poolside and beach-side cocktails after immersing himself in a hot tub that, in his own words, ‘did not look right’. About four days after the bumps, redness and itching started… and boy did he not enjoy several trips to the doctor as they tried different creams, antibiotics and anti-fungus medications in an effort to clear up the rash that had formed in both creases of his legs right where, as he phrased it, ‘the naughty bits began’.

So, the next time you think, “oh, they have someone who takes care of the pools” and consider hopping in a public pool or hot tub at a hotel, consider these simple things:

1. Does the hotel have staff that attend to the water features or do they contract out for pool care/maintenance?
2. Do you see a posted log anywhere that tells you the last time anyone physically tested the water for vital water quality parameters such as bromine, free, chlorine, pH, total alkalinity, etc.?
3. What first impression did you have of the swimming/bathing facility? If ‘not so great’ then perhaps you will find safer, albeit less interesting, relief from the heat in a lukewarm shower.
4. Do you smell a LOT of chlorine in the swimming area. If so, then it may mean the water recently contained a large quantity of biological contaminants… and either it got shocked recently or you smell the off gassing of chloramines generated by the neutralizing of a large biological contaminant load — and health experts have rendered not-so-positive opinions about the aftereffects of inhaling large amounts of chloramines.
5. How many swimmers do you see in the water? The more bathers in the water and the hotter the temperature outside, the greater the bather load and more biological contaminants (i.e. sweat and other stuff. OTHER stuff.) potentially in the water. Note the children, especially. Do we really need to explain this last bit one in greater detail?
6. Adults, too, people. If you see adults drinking juice and sodas (aka: beers and mixed drinks) and they don’t, as folks in the military phrase it, ‘hit the head’ on a regular basis… you do the math. Sugars (and alcohol) tend to act as diuretics; meaning those who consume them will feel the need to urinate more frequently than normal. Again, no trips to the bathroom, that warm, yellowish liquid has to go someplace.

While the above few tips will not guarantee you a safe and bacteria-free swimming experience when visiting a hotel and considering taking a dip in the pool or soaking in the hot tub, keeping them in the back of your mind surely won’t hurt.

Can the average person test for bacteria in pool water?

Yes. The WaterSafe Pool & Spa Bacteria Water Test Kit puts the power of on-the-spot pool/spa water testing for potentially harmful bacteria such as Pseudomonas, Aeromonas, E.coli, certain species of Salmonella, Shigella, Enterobacter, Klebsiella and a variety of other Coliform and non-Coliform bacteria into the hands of those who need it most: People unsure about the quality of water in an unfamiliar pool or spa.

Planning a trip that may involve multiple stops and possibly multiple public pools? The WaterSafe Pool & Spa Bacteria in Water Test Kit contains 10 tests and each test takes less than 20 minutes to perform.

In the time it takes to make sure the kids have adequate sunscreen on and have their arm floaties properly attached… you have the time required to make certain the water does not contain an unhealthy amount of potentially infectious and dangerous bacteria.

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Thanks for the question, Mandy!

When a person tells us they have no chlorine reading on their test kit usually one or more of the following factors has played a part in causing that to happen:

• Chlorine demand greater than chemical feeder system can supply
• Old or expired test kit reagents, test strips, etc. not properly reading chlorine levels
• Lack of pool stabilizer (cyanuric acid)

The fact that you can smell chlorine, however, tells us that you may have another situation on your hands. Quite possibly your pool has combined chlorine but not much free chlorine. If you do not know the difference between combined chlorine and free chlorine then please take a look at an earlier posting of ours called What is the Difference Between Total Residual Chlorine and Free Chlorine?

For those not interested in reading the long version, the following will explain free chlorine, combined chlorine and total chlorine:

• Free Chlorine does the active sanitizing of the pool water by neutralizing organic contaminants (i.e. bacteria, parasites, etc.). Traditional chlorine sanitized pools should have a healthy free chlorine level at all times.
• Combined Chlorine started out as free chlorine, locked horns w/ an organic contaminant, and now has become attached to the contaminant it neutralized. While still partially effective as a sanitizer, it has nowhere near the sanitizing power of free chlorine… and it plays a big part in producing the strong ‘chlorine smell’ most people associate with pool water.
• Total Chlorine represents the total concentration of free chlorine plus combined chlorine in a water sample.

So, Mandy, at this point we believe you should begin by making sure your test kit can test for both free and total chlorine. If it cannot then we suggest picking up a test kit such as the Poolmaster 5-Way Test Kit or, if you prefer a simpler chlorine testing method, the Pool Check 5-Way Test Strips should work quite well for you.

If your existing test kit can test for both free and total chlorine then you may need to replace your reagents (i.e. DPD-1 Test Tablets, DPD-3 Test Tablets, and/or DPD ReagentStrips). If stored near other pool chemicals, left out in the sun and extreme heat for long periods, or beyond their expiration date(s), your reagents may have gone bad.

Now that you have ruled out the test apparatus as the root of your chlorine troubles, test the pool for both free and total chlorine and then subtract the free chlorine concentration from the total chlorine concentration. Ideally you should get a very low number (zero would be perfect) but if you get more than a 0.5ppm difference you most certainly have a buildup of combined chlorine — and that would explain the strong chlorine odor you mentioned.

To get rid of the combined chlorine experts suggest ‘shocking’ (superchlorinating) the pool with a non-stabilized chlorine (contains no cyanuric acid) such as calcium hypochlorite powder or a non-chlorine ‘shock’ treatment such as monopersulfate (MPS).

Copper/Silver Ionizer

Back in the old days people used only one of two things to keep their pool water safe, clean and clear: Chlorine or Bromine. Nowadays people can choose from chlorine, bromine, ionizer, mineralizer, biguanide, peroxide, and salt systems — and each method requires special attention to specific water quality parameters.

Not knowing what to test for with each pool water sanitizing system could have disastrous results… which brings us to an email inquiry from ‘ShonShondra911′ who recently had a pool installed in her yard and had no idea what type of test kit to use:

"Our pool salesman suggested we install our pool with one of the ionizer systems that puts small amounts of copper in the water to help keep the pool from turning green and slimy (his words) and he said we would have to test for the levels once we got all the water in and the system started but he never said what levles to test. Do we just use the yellow and red kit you sell? Test strips you sell? Or do we need lab testing each time? Can you help???"

Do not panic, Shon. Do not panic. We can help you decide what type of pool water test kit should work best for your pool’s copper ionizer sanitizing system.

While you COULD invest in a traditional wet chemistry test kits such as the Taylor Copper Test Kit which tests for copper (.2ppm – 3.0ppm) in pool water and the Taylor K-1004 Troubleshooter Test Kit which tests for alkalinity, pH and other water parameters… a simpler, less expensive option exists.

The Pool Check brand of pool test strips manufactures a dip-n-read test strip product called the Pool Check Copper 3-Way which tests for copper, pH and total alkalinity — the three main water quality parameters you will want to keep an eye on most of the time.

This product boasts detection ranges of:

1. Copper: 0, 0.2, 0.4, 0.6, 0.8, 1, 2 ppm
2. Total Alkalinity: 0, 40, 80, 120, 180, 240, 360 ppm
3. pH: 6, 6.4, 6.8, 7.2, 7.6, 8.2, 9

… and has a total test time of around one minute.

Additionally, this product requires no special chemicals, no multi-step instructions, no proprietary testing vessels (containers), and has a cost of around $11 for 50 tests!

So, unless you feel re-visiting your old high school chemistry days, we suggest you take a look at the Pool Check Copper 3-Way for your day-to-day pool water testing needs.

Pools and water parks can provide hours and hours of wet fun on a hot summer day but they can also harbor all sorts of unwanted and potentially harmful types of bacteria that can make life very rough for all those who ingest them accidentally.

Ready to get grossed out?

No matter how many times we read them, the following statistics never cease to turn our stomachs:

According to a recent survey conducted on behalf of the Water Quality and Health Council…

• The majority of Americans (81 percent) believe that others are urinating in pools while swimming.
• One in five (20 percent) admitted urinating in swimming pools rather than getting out to use the restroom.
• Additionally, 83 percent of those surveyed said they had concerns about other swimmers possibly having diarrhea. ( source )

So there you have it, folks. Solid proof that we live in a world with truly nasty individuals who, for laziness’ sake alone, willingly turn a nice, cool and refreshing swimming pool into a lukewarm toilet.

Nasty. Simply nasty!

Steps to protect yourself from ‘dirty’ pool water

First of all, assume that nasty people use the pool and make sure the water has, at the very least, an adequate amount of sanitizer (usually free chlorine or bromine), a properly balance pH, and the correct amount of total alkalinity. These three key water quality parameters can make the difference between a safe swimming experience and one that could result in your spending a whole lot of ‘quality time’ in the bathroom for the next week.

Next, do your part to keep the water clean by showering before swimming so that the total contaminant load in the water can stay down. Yeah, we KNOW that jumping into the cool water of a swimming pool after playing basketball, cutting the grass, or any other sweat-forming activity feels good but all that sweat and body oil adds to the organic contaminant load in the water and reduces the amount of sanitizer available to keep potentially harmful germ and bacteria at bay.

As you enjoy your time in the water, do yourself a favor and keep your mouth shut whenever possible. Resist the urge to allow ANY pool water in your mouth because it seriously takes just a really small amount of contaminated pool water to make a person ill.

Granted you went to the pool to get away from work, but do yourself a favor and count the number of sodas/beers folks around you ingest… and note how many times, if any, they excuse themselves to use the restroom. If the math doesn’t add up, then keep away from them in the pool for sure!

If you can, check the flow of water from the return jets because if they don’t produce water then the filter’s not filtering and anything that got into the water (by accident or by intent) will remain in the water… lurking… waiting for a chance to make someone sick.

We all have PERFECT children who NEVER do anything wrong but please take your kids to the bathroom regularly while at the pool. Do we need to say more on the matter?

And finally, after you complete your swim, assume you swam with nasty people who pee in the pool and wash that pool water off by taking a shower, rinsing off w/ a garden hose, etc. Don’t keep that potentially contaminated water on you any longer than you have to!