Is Testing Pool Water With Strips Legit and How to Comprehend It?

If you just move into your new house, getting yourself a new private pool, or just doing pool routine maintenance, you might want to check your water pool cleanliness or consistency. It’s pretty essential to be done after a while, to make sure your pool is algae free and also free from water crystal.

Technically, testing pool water is pretty easy to do. One way to do it is by using strips. But how do you test your pool water with strips? And at the end of the day, how legit is that?

For most people, testing pool water with strips has been the most instant, easiest, and accurate way to measure your pool water condition. Not only for private pools, but there are also public pools that rely on this way. If you are interested in using this way to test your pool water, check this out.

Get yourself a water strip at the store. Then, dip the strip into the pool, for at least your elbow high. The dip should not be done too long. Pull it up immediately and shake it. Shaking the water strips will get the strips rid of excess water. Wait for a couple of seconds, and when you notice the strips start to change color, compare it with the chart on the packaging. See the difference.

To read the strip and compare it to the chart, you might need to check on the product of the brand itself, if it has any manual help. Usually, each color for the strips is different for every brand. But, here we have something to come up with as the main direction of reading the result of testing pool water with strips for you.

1. The total hardness of calcium: First is to measure the calcium contained in your water. Not only calcium, but other kinds of minerals are also measurable using the strips. This measurement will show if your water is too hard on calcium or too soft, or maybe just normal. For your information, having one extreme side of calcium in your pool can cause damage to the pool. The right amount of hardness should be between 175 to 275 ppm.
2. The total of the chlorine: As your pool contains chlorine in the water, make sure the amount of the chlorine ranges only between 1 to 4 ppm.
3. The free chlorine: The free chlorine shows the number of chlorine that is sanitizing your pool water. In other words, free chlorine helps kill bacteria and algae. The normal measurement of chlorine in your pool should be between 1 to 4 ppm.
4. The water pH: pH in water helps measure the water’s acidity. It will show if your water is critical enough or healthy enough to be used for swimming. Make sure your pool water’s pH ranges between 7.2 to 7.6 to have a healthy and comfortable swimming environment.
5. The alkalinity total: Related to pH, alkalinity will be affected to your pool water’s pH. Therefore, make sure the alkalinity in water is not too low or too high. The normal measurement for alkalinity should be between 80 to 150 ppm.

And that is how you read and comprehend your pool water.