Pentair R151276 1200 Total Water Hardness Test Kit

Simple to use - works fantastic

I bought the Pentair test kit to test my household well water. Although I have a softener, it is around 10 years old and seemed to have quit working. The kit confirmed my suspicions. My water supply was extremely hard. Once I repaired the softener I tested the water again. Again, the kit confirmed what I already knew -- my water was soft again. To test water one just fills the clear plastic bottle with water to the indicated level. Then, add 2 drops of the blue liquid and swirl the container. Next, just add one drop at a time of the clear liquid until the water turns blue. If the water is blue without adding any drops the it is already fairly soft. Otherwise, the number of drops required to turn the water blue correlate with the parts per million (ppm) of hardness in the water. The instructions include a simple math formula for converting the ppm to grains, which is what most water softener specs refer to. No, it's not super precise. It can't give you a specific reading on the exact hardness of a particular sample. Still, it is very useful for selecting or repairing a water softener. Even though this is sold as Pentair, it is also branded as a "Rainbow" test kit. Apparently, aquarium owners use it to check their fish tank water. A

Great product. Should also advertise that you can use it to test your water softness not just for pools. Just say'n. The reason for the 4 stars is the blue liquid was about 1/4 gone because it was not sealed correctly and leaked all over the inside of the package. But otherwise good. Should ship in a box not envelope.

Awesome! I used this to pick what hardwater softener I needed. I thought my water was ultra hard and its really not. This told me so many parts per million and how that translated into grains per gallon. Based on this I selected the lowest unit capability of water softener, set it to 35 Grains per Gallon and voila! No more scale on my shower doors, etc. My unit is capable of removing up to 110!

If you are using this to test a pool’s calcium hardness level, this is not the best test kit. Get a Taylor kit instead. This test is for total hardness and can only give you a guesstimate for the portion that is calcium hardness (instructions say 70-75%, though in my pool it’s a much smaller percentage). The Taylor kits give you a reading on calcium hardness alone which is most valuable for pool chemistry monitoring. That said, if you want to know your total hardness number. Say you are evaluating your home for a water softener. Or you are worried your total hardness is so bad it will be rough on your pool equipment, then this is a reasonable kit. If you are trying to dial in a water softener setting, this is also not the Best test but will work. It measure 50ppm at a time. Softeners want you to measure in grains, which are 1 grain = 17ppm. To get close, you can use this kit with a double-sized water sample, which will have you measuring at 25ppm.

It was terrible and did not work. And they did not accept my return

Well-priced and conveniently packaged, this little test kit is quite easy to use to ascertain total water hardness. I use this as one of the many pool water tests I conduct on a regular basis. You get the blue case, the sample vial, and the test solutions. Instructions are included. Really a great buy!... well, if you're needing to test total water hardness... otherwise it won't do much for you.

We have extremely hard water so I bought this to help regulate our water softener. Easy to use and seems to be calibrated well.

ENTREGA A TIEMPO

Easy to use and works well.

Works great for testing water softeners. Was significantly more usable than test strips. It's even easy to test soft water, since the indicator will immediately show blue when added.

Muy bueno

This kit works OK, and as promised. I was sad not to have seen an eyedropper inside, which is required to insert 2 drops of chemical #6. I stole one from our medicine cabinet. Otherwise OK.