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!

The water sample bottle is made of cheap flimsy plastic. You could squeeze it and it would break. This stuff works by adding drops of the reagent to the water sample and count the drops it takes to turn blue. The liquid never turns red for me after I add the 2 drops of Number 6, it turns violet. And the Number 7 drops never turn the water blue. The instructions were clear but they had typographical errors. This is made by Pentair, there should not be any typos. Proof-read your literature Pentair.

Good quality pool testing kit .

Not accurate enough. This kit was purchased to test pool water and the kit only gives results of 50 parts per million per drop. Save your money and buy a test kit that gives grains hardness. One grain is 17.1 PPM. A kit that tests grains is fine for pool water and for checking or programming a water softener. If Pentair would have had the instructions posted online, I would have never bought it. I’m a very dissatisfied customer. 🙁

You cannot buy replacement test chemicals easily at pool stores and it is best to replace both chemicals at once.

Completely satisfied. It was delivered as claimed, one day before promised. You don't need an eye dropper, since the two chemical bottles have built-in eyedroppers. Easy to use. Was able to verify that my water softener is working properly.

Muy bueno

This totally fulfills it's intended purpose, a swimming pool test kit. I was hoping to attain a fresh drinking water testing kit. I would welcome receiving a kit or pen capable of testing hardness at a lower level.

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.

Good item, works as intended.