You don’t have to be a
chemist to keep your pool sparkling clean. To keep things
simple, use a testing
method that you find fast, easy and convenient. That way
you’ll be more likely to
stick to your testing regimen. There are two basic types of
testing method used by
most consumers: test strips and liquid kits.
• Liquid kits require that you put a sample of water into a plastic
comparator and then
carefully add drops of chemical reagent, watching for
a change in the color of
the sample. Liquid kits with the reagent OTO were
once widely used to
measure chlorine, but they have fallen out of favor in
recent years. OTO measures
only total chlorine, not free chlorine, which is
the form of chlorine most
effective in sanitizing your pool. In addition, we
now know that the chemical
reagent in the OTO-type kit can cause
cancer.
Kits using the liquid
reagent known as DPD do measure free chlorine.
However, if you test for
free chlorine using a DPD #1 liquid test kit, be
aware that high levels of
combined chlorine, or chloramines, can cause
false-positive results
when testing free chlorine. Substances such as
monopersulfate (used for
shock-treating pools) can also affect the results
of the DPD test by causing
a false positive reading. Moreover, the DPD
test requires careful
technique and several steps to get the best results.
• Test strips, the easiest method for pool and spa water testing, are fast
and simple to use because
they eliminate the need to measure samples
and count drops.
Typically, you simply dip a strip in the water for one
second and then remove it.
You then compare the color on the strip to the
color chart on the label.
Industry and water quality
experts report that test strips are comparable in
accuracy to liquid kits.
In fact, many believe they actually deliver greater
accuracy than liquid kits because they require less technique.
Many local
and state health
departments now recognize AquaChek test strips as an
approved testing method.
This means that professional pool and spa
service technicians as
well as other industry experts trust the accuracy of
AquaChek pool and spa test
strips. Today there are reliable test strips
available to test a wide
variety of pool conditions, including cyanuric acid
and total dissolved solids
as well as free chlorine, pH and total alkalinity.
No matter what type of
test kit you decide to use, be sure to follow the
manufacturer’s
recommendations to get the best results.