Pool Test Kits buying guide

Want to be confident about the safety of your pool water? Invest in suitable pool test kits to check the water and maintain proper safety.

Accuracy, durability, price are some of the crucial characteristics that are important to deem while picking the best one.

Collecting information on these characteristics can become a strenuous task. To avoid the hassle, you can refer to a buying guide. It contains all the information under one roof, and you can quickly funnel down the best product.

So, without any further delay, let us dive deep into this guide.

What are Pool Test Kits, and why should you buy them?

Pools are a fantastic place to spend summers around, and they provide ultimate joy and relaxation. Kids and adults both love spending their time by the pool equally. Besides enjoying these activities, one may also want to be ensured about whether the water is safe and clean for swimming.

You can test the surface water with pool test kits, which helps know about cleanliness and the balance of chemicals in the water. There are many contaminants present in water that can make it highly unfit for human use, as it may lead to severe waterborne diseases and allergies.

Along with getting the pool test kits, you want to be assured that you are buying a quality product. There are so many information criteria to consider while purchasing the best pool test kits like the ease of use, accurate results, the design and durability, and so many other factors.

We went through all this information about the best pool test kits thoroughly to provide you with the best reviews for the appropriate ones available in the market.

The source of your water can be contaminated, and you ought to check the water of your pool frequently to avoid any harmful disease or any discomfort. The contaminants can quickly transfer to your pool by the infected water source, be it well or municipal water.

You should buy these pool test kits as you need to check the level of chlorine, free chlorine, the pH level, the total alkalinity, Cyanuric acid, and the hardness of calcium. There are kits that cannot test all of these chemicals present in the water, while there are ones that can test more.

The appropriate kits for you will depend upon your pool's size and how often you use it. If you want pool test kits that can test every chemical available in the pool for you, you can go for the high-end photometric kit, as that is specified for testing expensive swimming surfaces.

The kits help keep the water safe from any harm from the UV rays and assist you in discovering the number of elements present in your pool.

Types of Pool Test Kits

You should be aware of the types of pool test kits available in the market and how you are supposed to use them. They are of three types.

1. Test strips

Test strips are quite popular pool test kits. They are easily affordable, but they are not often 100% accurate. But that does not mean that these are not suitable test kits.

Some models are known for their higher accuracy. These pool test kits are great if you require a kit for initially screening or testing the hardness of water and the pH.

These strips are formed of a particular material that, under chemical treatment, reacts to the pool's water and shows a change in color of the strip, which further confirms the absence or presence of a particular chemical contaminant.

The color which has occurred is matched with a color chart to confirm which contaminant it was. This process can be subjective as certain people are not that good with determining colors.

2. Digital testers

Digital testers are considered to be more problematic than other pool test kits as they check out the properties of the water that change with the existence of a variety of chemicals in the water. These digital testers view the quantities in the digits and eliminate the errors.

Digital testers also do not provide 100% accuracy. Also, the total dissolved solids tests cannot be counted as conclusive as they do not test lead and microbial, which are found to be the primary pool water contaminants.

3. Lab test kits

According to experts, lab tests are best for finding out about the least amount of contaminants in your pool water. These pool test kits come with vials to fill in the sample and get the sample tested in the professional labs. These tests are 100% accurate, but they do not provide you with immediate results.

Things to deem about while selecting appropriate Pool Test Kits

Design

These pool test kits should be designed appropriately to remain close to the water and your pool. While you are checking your pool, there should be minimal parts that should be close to the water.

The fewer amount of moving parts near the water will reduce the chances of contaminating the water. The water kit for the pools should also be designed to hold together all the testing equipment as you do not want the parts from the testing kit to come off and fall into the water.

You should also be sure of what kind of pool you have as you do not want to buy a testing kit, which is highly expensive, and testing it for a small pool. While at the same time, you should not use a basic testing kit to test a vast pool and miss out on any contaminants.

Suitability

You should be assured what type of pool you have and what kind of testing kit will be suitable for your pool type. You should have a proper testing kit that is suitable for your pool type as if you have an outdoor pool used by the public, you will need a testing kit that is suitable for that particular type of pool.

The pool, which many people use, has higher chances of being contaminated, so you need to be assured what contaminants are present in the pool. You have to buy a basic strip testing kit for the pool, which is essential and has a small water volume.

Simultaneously, for an expensive pool with a high number of visitors and requires high-class maintenance, you need a proper testing kit to get rid of all the contaminants that are likely to be present in that water.

Availability

While you are deciding to purchase a testing kit for the pool, you might check its availability. As when you like a particular brand and are satisfied with its performance, you might get used to it and want to repurchase it.

Initially, it will not seem essential, but later on, you will depend on your favorite brand as you trust its accuracy, and you want it to be available when you require replacing the old one.

If you have testers that require to be refilled with chemicals or with testing strips, then in that case, too, you need to be assured about the availability of such products when you need them. Your refills need to be in stock always, or else you are investing your money for nothing.

Durability

When you purchase a testing kit for your pool, it is entirely understood that you will use it regularly. In that case, you need your testing kit to be as durable as possible.

There are pool test kits that can be refilled, or new test strips can be bought from the market. In such a case of a reusable kit, you need a durable kit to last longer. During summer, you will use the kit regularly, so it should be able to handle that much amount of use.

The most crucial part is that the pool testing kit should be able to withstand water. Generally, the pool test kits that are available in the market are meant to withstand the wear and tear which comes in when the testing kit is used frequently.

Value

When we plan to purchase any product, we are thinking about value for money in our mind as no one wants to waste their money on a product that will not be useful for them.

We always want a product that will serve well as a pool testing kit. If you require an inexpensive pool kit and go for the available ones in the market, you might as well not get the best one. In fact, you may land on a product that will not work correctly.

The tester that comes in the kit is the essential part of the kit to keep the pool working without any inconvenience. But having the perfect pool kit does not mean that you need to spend a considerable amount on buying it.

You can enquire about it and purchase the one that is suitable for your pool type and will yield the best results.

Ease of use

Whenever you are buying any equipment, you should be more concerned about its ease of use. While you are choosing the best kit for yourself, you need to know about the variety of tool kits that are available in the market.

Testing strips are liked by the people the most, and they are in demand. These top-rated pool strips are the easiest to use. When you place them in water, their color will start changing as per the chemicals present inside the pool.

You can purchase them in bulk as they come in a pack of fifty. After one use of the strip, you can throw that strip away. But these test strips are not that much accurate as compared to the digital strip readers. If you are going to use the digital strip reader, then you don't require looking for the color change in the strip.

Consistency

If the pool test kits that you are using are not accurate or provide different results every time you use it, then it is going to be problematic for you. If you are not able to identify the contaminants in your pool in those color strips, then how will you get rid of them.

You may land up with an imbalance of chemicals in your pool, or you may not know about something that is growing in your pool.

When you have invested so much in building and maintaining expensive people, then you can consider spending a bit more on the pool testing kit to avoid any inconsistent results, which may delay the diagnosis of any problem in your pool.

Correct use

To know and find out about the chemical imbalance in your pool, it is highly essential to know what you're looking at. One must know how to use the testing strips and have confidence in the test. You should be aware of the basic knowledge of pool chemistry.

You can be satisfied with the test results depending on the knowledge you have. You can run your tests depending on the size of the pool. For instance, if you have a hot tub, you do not need the most accurate reading. A pool tester will work just right for you.

If you have a vast pool, then to find the perfect balance of chemicals inside your pool, you will require a pool tester to assist you with the accurate results.

Independent manufacturer

If you buy a tester from a manufacturer who also has specialization in pool chemicals, then there are chances that you will end up with biased results.

Pool manufacturers are in this business to sell their pool chemicals, and they also can make money through pool testers.

If the pool manufacturer can produce pool chemicals, they can also produce a pool test kit that will be biased towards the result. Although this will not be okay to say that all pool manufacturers would provide such results, this is still a fact which needs to be considered.

You can buy a pool test kit from an independent manufacturer as that test kit will provide you unbiased results, and you can be assured and satisfied with the results they provide. Value for money is a concept which needs to be considered, and you definitely should not waste your money on a product that is not going to provide you with accurate results.

Accuracy

Accuracy is an essential feature that one needs to consider while buying the best pool testing kit. You can find out whether you are leveling your pH correctly or not when your test kit will not provide accurate results.

As a result of such incidents, you need to have a reliable kit to have accurate results for your pool's proper functioning. It is of enormous importance to find out about the brand's reputation and the longevity of the brands as well.

Brand reputation is important because if the company has the right name, then it might be providing good accuracy of results, and the customers are satisfied by their services. On the basis of your requirement and your experience, you can decide on the kit which suits you the best.

Time requirement

The time required for testing the pool water depends mainly on the quality and type of kit. There are pool test kits that operate faster while there are kits that are a bit late in providing results comparatively.

Time spent in obtaining the results should not be a problem when you are testing your home pool. In that case, you may not mind the slow testing speed. But if you are testing a commercial pool, then you might not want to waste your time over there in the hot and humid sun. In such a case, you will require a testing kit that delivers the result at an escalating speed.

Along with the time taken to provide you with the results, the kit should also give you accurate results. Rapid results are of no use until and unless they are correct.

Pool Water contaminants

If you are going to test your pool's water for contaminants, you might as well have some knowledge about it. Along with the understanding of the contaminants, you should be aware of the limits to which they are acceptable.

1. Fluoride

Fluoride is used in toothpaste and Is not a serious contaminant. However, it can harm our bones. The maximum limit of fluoride is 4.0mg/l according to federal requirements. The municipal water is often contaminated with fluoride, but that is okay and common.

2. Ammonia

This is a very common contaminant and is not harmful to us. But if you have ammonia in your water, then it is vital to know the source of it. Humans can tolerate ammonia, but aquatic life is highly damaged because of it.

3. Potassium

Potassium is not harmful, and our body needs at least 4.7 grams of potassium daily. It is known for preventing kidney stones and lowering blood pressure. There are also no laws for potassium levels in the water.

4. Barium

Barium causes severe effects on the human body. It can lead to bowel irritation, high blood pressure, brain damage, and organ failure. There is a severe limit of 2.0 mg/l for barium. The source of barium can be mineral deposits near the pool, waste disposal, and also copper smelting.

5. Lead

Lead causes severe water contamination, and the effects of lead can be worse than barium. The limit for lead by federals laws for water is 0.015mg/l.

Water sources

There is a whole lot of variety of test kits that are available for testing the water. It is of enormous importance to buy the testing kit explicitly depending on what source of water you have in your pool.

There are test kits that are designed specifically for a specific source of water. For example, if you are going to test okay water sources, the contaminants you will notice will be bacteria, manganese, arsenic, nitrate, etc. You will not need to test the well water for chlorine until and unless you have recently disinfected it.

If you are going to test the municipal water source, you will find chlorine, lead, fluoride. You need not test for bacteria until an outbreak of any gastrointestinal complications or something like that.

Safety Tips while using Pool Test Kit

There is not much to think about in safety tips for using the pool test kits. Every step of testing the pool water requires logical reasoning and your thinking ability.

You need to be safe while taking the test. Do not lean too much on the edge of the pool when you are taking water out from your swimming pool for testing the contaminant's presence.

It can be perfect when you directly jump in the water for swimming, but in such a case, when you are taking the water for testing, you may end up injuring yourself while taking the water for testing by leaning.

It is important to mention not to touch any substance that you are testing and do not bring them near your face or do not touch your face with dirty hands. You ought to be very careful while you are dealing with chemicals.

It is strictly prohibited to lick or swallow or any substance, and also do not let any substance enter your eyes. If you are a clumsy person who can spill stuff, you can do this test using your goggles for safety reasons.

If you have sensitive skin, gloves can be the right choice to stay protected. But do not use thick gloves as you may not be able to handle the vials which are to be used in testing.

FAQs

1. How can I look for reagents?

You can look for them with the local agents or buy them online. With kits, you need to maintain the stock of specific reagents.

2. What can I know from the test kit?

You can determine the chlorine level, the hardness of water, pH level, alkalinity, and some other metrics.

Summing Up

With all the information under your hand, all you need is to arm yourself with the suitable pool test kit. Here in this guide, we have presented all the pointers that will aid you in your selection process.

Go through the guide and purchase the best one to ensure the safety of the water in your pool.