As a result of a massive influx of questions related to pool & spa water testing, we have decided to branch off our normal topic of drinking water quality testing and post a few things related to testing pool & spa water. Why? Simple: Some people have not yet made the connection that bad tap or ground water stays bad whether you drink it or fill your swimming pool with it.
For most people opening their swimming pool means raising the water level off with fresh, untreated water from a garden hose or in some cases, a delivery truck. Once full of water, the testing can begin.
How Should Pool & Spa Owners Test Their Water?
Excellent question! In the ‘old’ days most pool and spa owners had a simple two-sided test kit for chlorine/bromine and pH which looked like this:
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2-Way Liquid Solution Water Test Kit 2-Way Test Kit “Pool water test kit reagents should be replaced every year. Testing swimming pool water every day will ensure proper chlorine, pH and alkalinity levels in the pool water. In The Swim pool test kits.” |
… and each year the owners of these pool water and spa water owners made a pilgrimage to their local pool store to acquire replacement reagents for their pool and/or spa water test kits which looked like this:
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2-Way Liquid Solution Water Test Kit Reagent 1 (chlorine) 1 oz. “Pool water test kit reagents should be replaced every year. Testing swimming pool water every day will ensure proper chlorine, pH and alkalinity levels in the pool water. In The Swim pool test kits.” |
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2-Way Liquid Solution Water Test Kit Reagent 2 (pH) 1 oz. “Pool water test kit reagents should be replaced every year. Testing swimming pool water every day will ensure proper chlorine, pH and alkalinity levels in the pool water. In The Swim pool test kits.” |
While at their local pool store picking up the replacement reagents for their pool/spa water test kits, pool and spa owners would usually submit a sample of water from their freshly filled pool or spa to a smiling person behind the counter at the ‘water testing station’. Within minutes of handing over a soda can, mason jar, yogurt container or other (hopefully) sealed container full of water the same smiling water station attendant would return with a sheet of paper telling them the free chlorine, total chlorine, ph, alkalinity, total (or calcium) hardness, cyanuric acid, total dissolved solids, copper and iron levels in their water.
Can’t Pool & Spa Owners Test Their Own Water?
Of course they can. Swimming pool and spa water test kits
Then came the fun part: Picking up and paying for all the various tubs and canisters of powders and liquids that would hopefully bring their water back in line with what pool and spa water professionals consider healthy.
This seems like a good time to end today’s posting. Later we will go into the different methods a person can use to test their OWN pool or spa water: At-Home Pool & Spa Water Test Kits & Water Testing Meters and At-Home Pool & Spa Water Test Kits and Testing Supplies
