Today’s water testing inquiry came to us from ‘Jill’ who asked a number of questions about WaterWorks Total Hardness Test Strips including…
How long after the expiration date will they work?
We recently posted an article on the topic of short shelf life test strips on this site because we get asked this question a LOT. You can read that article here: Do Tests Strips with Short Shelf Life Still Work?
To answer the question directly, though, we have this to say: “If properly stored since the date of manufacture the products should still work, but no one will guarantee the product’s accuracy beyond the date stamped on the bottle.”
The answer above actually applies to pretty much ALL products that come with expiration dates if you think about it. But, in order to hedge off lawsuits from potentially disgruntled consumers with really old or poorly stored products, manufacturers do have to put a time limit out there.
Are WaterWorks Total Hardness Test Test Strips the right product?
Regarding the matter of ‘is the WaterWorks Total Hardness Test Strip the best product for you, that would all depend on what you believed you needed to test — since this product detects only Calcium and Magnesium.
If looking just to make certain your water softener functions as expected, meaning it reduces calcium and magnesium hardness as described by the unit’s manufacturer, then we believe WaterWorks Total Hardness Test Strips should work just fine for what you want to do.
Now on the other hand, if you have curiosity about other potential water contaminants (i.e. lead, nitrates/nitrites, coliform bacteria, arsenic, etc.), then this product will not cover all those bases and you will want to consider a product that perhaps includes total hardness test strips as well as test for the other items you would like to test for.
If the latter situation sounds more like your situation then we suggest you consider a multi-parameter water test kit like the SenSafe Water Quality Test Kit, WaterWorks COMPLETE Test Kit, or the WaterSafe City Water Test Kit.
Each of the those kits offers slightly different water testing options and each comes with easy-to-follow directions that make testing one’s water for a number of critical water quality parameters a painless process.
