20 Best Hot Tub Water Test Kit (2023 Updated)

We have been shopping at the SpaDepot for a few years now and have had no issues with the company. Products arrive in a timely manner and so far no damaged products. We usually buy the fragrances for our spa as they have the best prices.

Since we use our spa regularly it is easy to buy a good variety and not pay shipping.

These seem to be accurate, they agree with the Taylor strips that I’ve been using. I do not have any issues with colours bleeding. My only complaint is that the scale for Ph and Hardness is too broad; my spa calls for a hardness of 150-200, the 2 lowest indicators on this are 100 and 250, so there’s a lot of guesswork.

Ph is similar, I’m trying to keep 7. 2-7. 8 but on the results decoder everything between 7. 2 and 8. 4 looks pretty similar.

The test strips we received didn’t work accurately. By this I mean the colors for two of the readings were either false, didn’t have proper color, or was just a faulty product in general. For instance, if we would verify the readings from the canister’s chart, two colors were either not recognized or either fell on the color scale to match.

Further, we had a few strips left of the accurate test strips and the readings that these tests strips provided threw off the chemicals in the hot tub to the point that we had to readjust when we took the correct readings.

I’m not sure why the readings were so off, so I’ll chalk this up to a bad egg of a shipment. Thankfully, Google Express service was simply superb in a quick response with a full refund and return, hence the 3-star rating instead of a 1-star.

I normally use this brand, but the recent purchase through Walmart has me questioning. The chlorine and free chlorine seem to be marking much higher than it should with the first few strips I’ve used and almost always read the same, so I’m never sure which is accurate.

I decided to test my tap water and all markers were in the okay zone, free Chlorine was zero, but complete chlorine was 1. So I’m not sure if complete chlorine is the actual free chlorine reading as my pool is well balanced otherwise and is algae free even with all the rain we’ve had.

We’ve owned for pools for 30 years. For a long time we used a regular test kit, where you fill vials with water. Clearly that is your best option if you’ve got pool issues and are really trying to dial in your pool chemistry.

But we’ve been using these the last few years. The ease of use is far superior to the test kit, and we get the information we need to adjust the water chemistry appropriately.

I have used these for years. They work great. For quick pool check they are convenient to use. I will sometimes double check results. Note: store them inside. Do not leave them outside.

I use this product to check the water chemistry of my jacuzzi. I really like the ease of use! I was really happy until I ordered it a second time and compared the strips from the first order to the second.

The pH did not agree and now I wonder which one is correct? The pads that carry the chemistry were also ***. the pads on the second batch were thicker and more difficult to read than the first batch.

I’m disappointed in the consistency and wonder if I should try another brand.

We just installed a whole house chlorinator system. We didn’t realize there was so much to setting it up, cleaning the existing plumbing, setting it up again for household use, and keeping an eye on the water’s chlorine several times a day if not daily for the first 30 days after install.

and you go through a HUGE amount of these strips. We bought the Clorox, and another brand name, and we settled on these, first off because they are Hach brandname and because its only $20 for 200 strips! Clorox is $10 for 50!We now have purchased the Hach CN-66 testing unit for a more precise measure, and because our NYS Health Dept uses that for their testing.

If we ever sell the house, we will have the whole set up that our NYS Health Dept recommends. I would use the strips because, IMO, there are good enough. , but we are headed into retirement and thinking of maybe a change of location??.

This pool water tester is a great quick alternative to drops. You get a pack of multiple strips in a bottle. Open the bottle and pull out 1 test strip. Dip the test strip a few inches deep into the pool and pull it out and wait a few seconds for the test strip panels to change color.

The 5 indicator spots are compared to the bottle label and you instantly know the balance level of your pool water. I have had a couple test strips that have had a bad spot that does NOT change color, but for the low price and ease of use, it is not a problem since I just reach for another test strip to get the results.

The one thing the bottle label does not have is a solution to the unbalanced chemical levels, which I sometime forget. Great product at a low cost.

Okay, I’ve always “guessd” at what my numbers were using those strips and trying to guess is that PH level orange, no red, no maybe redish. Bottom line is you can be WAAAY off and not know it. Hot tub has been so much better knowing my numbers are spot on.

BUY IT, BUY IT, BUY IT! No, I’m not on commission! LOL.

Work’s every time if you use it according to instructions

First, there are no instructions on the package. I loaded the app and that requires you to add an account with a bunch of personal info just to use the product and get partial instructions. That’s ridiculous! Even once app is loaded, there are no instructions for the Total Chlorine.

This process has been frustrating and cumbersome, I’ll take my old 30 year pool kit with simple written instructions anyday. Also I first tried to find instructions online, but all they had was video talking about the app.

Ugh. Never again.

Test kits I’ve used previously (I estimate at least 10) require personal interpretation of the shades of color for the test water versus the shades of color of the kit. Not the Clorox 3 Way test Kit – you just add the chemicals to the water and hold the kit up to the light.

I’ve always been able to determine (at a glance) the correct level of my pool water with this kit. I wish Clorox would make a 6 way test kit for all pool chemicals that work exactly as this one.

I used to use the strips, but I found the results could be inconsistent depending on the age of the strips and where they were stored. So I started using this 3-way test kit with the drops instead. It seems much more accurate, and the results are easier to interpret than the strips.

In just a few seconds, you can get the results you’re after, and the color indicates what you need to with just a glance.

Bought this for my 12 x 30 Intex frame pool. I had a Clorox brand one but the colors were hard to read. This Taylor one is lot easier. Colors are clear and I can finally match that orange tone for the ph which the Clorox one didnt have.

And its just easier to use. Instructions are clear. Highly recommend for the smaller pools.

Very simple and easy to use (no mixing needed) for quick check of Chlorine and pH. I tried testing against a better quality full test kit and readings were spot on. Not bad, so great kit for quick daily testing.

I gave it 5 stars because the comparator block for chlorine is shades of pink/red. My old kit had shades of yellow. I had trouble distinguishing between them. I can easily distinguish between the shades of pink/red so I can tell how many ppm of chlorine.

If you see pink/red better than yellow then I think you’ll be happy with this.

We canceled our pool chemical service recently and so I ended up having to purchase a brand new chemical test kit because our old one was expired. The only thing I really don’t like about this kit is that, compared to my old kit, testing chlorine is a pain.

The powder reagent, although it’s supposed to be more accurate, is messy. I miss the drops. I also wish they would give you a little notepad to record your results and keep track of what you need to add.

I purchased the K-2006 Taylor test kit from Leslie’s. Shipping was prompt. This kit includes everything I need to check my pool chemical levels. The kit includes a 64 page waterproof Pool & Spa Water Chemistry Treatment guide, with Q & A, and very specific treatment tables to correct the water if needed.

The test kit container is a hard shell waterproof case with a carrying handle. Taylor videos are also helpful to troubleshooting a couple of strange results. I feel very confident testing our pool water now.

Buy the Commercial kit aka C kit if you need glasses. The instructions on the inside lid are much bigger on the Commercial Kit and that is the guide to how to use. Also the K-2006C kit does not do bromine and the Chlorine is a little more involved than the K-2005C which only gives you Chlorine/Bromine readings in 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5 ( which could be much more than 5 ).

K-2006C did do a. 2 or. 5 resolution Chlorine depending on sample size. And K-2006C was easier for combined chlorine as K-2005C is wait and see if there is a color shift. Also my 2006C kit had the instructions on the lid for salt and a space to put the salt regents and tube.

The K-2005C is a little faster and easier to use with R 0001, 0002, 0003 droppers and mach on color scale but the K-2006C is a little more detailed using R-0870 powder that must remain dry then you bleach it out with R-0871 dropper counting the drops til clear and that is the chlorine X.

2 or X. 5 drops then R0003 and re drop R-0871 til clear for combined chlorine.

Very easy to use. Accurate. I checked this against a pool stop automated analysis. Very close. This lasted a year for my pool. I did run out of the sulphuric acid since the alkalinity test needs more drops (than the normal five) for chlorine and pH.

I should mention that for about 3 months during the summer, I tested the pool on a daily basis. So I believe the chemical that come with this product should last (maybe) over 2 years if you check weekly.

Having to deal with pool company shortage as well, we decided to do it ourselves. This is very easy to learn and comes with clear instructions and goes a long way. I still test at the store once in a while to confirm but this gives me peace of mind in between when I can’t run over there since I’m very careful about marinating the chemistry of the pool.

I gave it 4 stars because I have to put it up to the light to differentiate the shades and confirm with another person that what I’m seeing is right but I got used to it after matching my reading with the store reading.

I’m a new pool/spa owner. This kit was a little more $ than the others, but it has all the little vials and is very easy to understand. Everything is well labeled and the descriptions match the instructions so you can follow along.

It also gives information on what can be causing certain variances in pH and alkaline readings.

These strips test all you need to know. They seem to work just fine. Easy to use and easy to understand. They can dispense one strip at a time, which is just fine. The top of the container snaps shut and is easily opened.

I trust these little strips after trying multiple brands for the past 2 years on my bromine hot tub. People need to understand just how “off” your water can be before they start saying the strips don’t work.

For examples, my well water was so acidic it took about 25x the normal amount for my 275 gal portable hot tub to register on the color strip. It was easily 1/3 of a bottle of pH reducer before I saw it change.

I confirmed it with a different strip to make sure it was correct.

Chlorine test pad stays white even after adding loads of chlorine granules for several days in a row. You can smell the chlorine now but the strip still shows white (low chlorine). I don’t trust the accuracy of these strips.

I have some really bad test strips from another company that gives you 1 second to read it before it smears all over. These test strips are excellent. once you put it in the water and take it out you get no smear or discoloration for 5 minutes more than enough time to read it.

Good job keep up the great work.

This is so much better than the strips, they change as time gos on whereas this stays the same colour even a day later as I found out because I left it in the garage. Only wish I knew they did an alkaline testing one before I bought the ph/chlorine one and wasted money on it.

My spa is now perfect on all levels.

This kit comes with a DPD1, phenol red and alkalinity tablets, Palintest tablets are good quality & reliable so the measurements are consistent. Not great value; it’s essentially just a colour chart for 4 tests and a small number of tablets to perform three types of test (free chlorine, PH and alkalinity).

However, this kit is quite a lot cheaper than alternatives.

I have an older version; but this has three scales, and the extra one (alkalinity) is proving useful.

These strips are paramount in ensuring the Hot Tub is not only safe to use but allows confidence for all users preventing any build up of bacteria by Chlorine and any skin irritants due to incorrect PH values.

The guidance colour chart on the outside of the plastic container is simple to follow to ensure correct values are maintained. Chlorine seems to be the element most required on a daily basis.

It’s a very straightforward test kit. Just dip in the water and the results are instant. Compare the colours on the side of the packaging and you know if you need to top up the chlorine and adjust the pH.

Would recommend.

Product came with all the strips damaged. As if they had already been used. Unusable. Very disappointed

I am not just picking on these, but all guess strips. When I first got my spa, I thought this concept was great. Used this and another brand together for 4 months and thought I was doing ok. But I kept having weird issues, and things never seemed quite right.

Plus, two brands of strips never seemed to tell me the exact same thing, so I had to guess which strip was the most accurate. But I was new, so I would just add more chemical (ie money). Forget it. Go buy a real test kit and you will see how far you are really off, and you really can have your chemistry perfect with really little extra time, and less money wasted blindly stumbling around.

Above all, buying a real test kit gave me piece of mind.

I have tested Alkazone Ph Test Strips for Water, Micro Essential Lab 9800 pHydrion pH Range: 0. 0 To 14. 0, 100 pH (Strips/Vial, Plastic pH Test Strips), and Nature2’s Spa Test Strips. While the Alkazone strips are an improvement over the Micro Essential Lab 9800 pHydrion (pHydrion) strips (which don’t work at all), the colors are not as vivid as they appear on the comparison sample on the container.

In addition, a solution I knew to be a pH of 9 tested as a 7 using the Alkazone strips. In fact, plain Fiji bottled water tested at a 7 and the pH reading on the Alkazone strips appeared unchanged even after adding alkalizing drops and/or baking soda both of which should have brought the pH above 9.

With the pHydrion strips, plain Fiji bottled water tested between a 3-4 pH while the Fiji bottle claims it is a 7. 8 pH. Also, the color of the pHydrion strips does not change consistently throughout the strip.

In fact, anything under a pH of 8 will only change the edges of the litmus paper such that the edges will be green while the center remains peach/orange/yellow. The Nature2’s Spa Test Strips appear to work the best for testing water.

They appear to be relatively accurate; unfortunately, these strips don’t test pH above an 8.

Work great with my Nature2 System. Important to use these and not other test strips, because these are the most important readings for the Nature2 low chlorine system, when you’re using MPS Shock. I use this regularly, and it has been very helpful in maintaining my hottub, using the Nature2 system, which we converted from Bacqua Spa to.

Couldn’t be happier. If you’re thinking of getting rid of BacquaSpa, but don’t want to use a lot of chlorine, or bromine, the Nature2 system is what you want. A little expensive at $10 for 50, but i don’t use them every day.

One of these should last me all winter.

Received a different product, branded by Leslie’s. I guess it’s the same as a Taylor K-2006, but I really don’t know. Some of the reagents are due to expire in less than three months, so seems like an old product.

The AquaChek 7-Way test strips are by far, the best pool test strips I have been able to find. They tell me everything I need to know about my pool’s chemistry. The 100-count bottle is also a great value.

The only downside is the accuracy of the PH level. While close, it is hard to tell exactly what the PH level is. This is not unique to these strips. I have found that they all have this shortcoming. I have an electronic PH meter that I use when I am in doubt.

Overall this is a great product and I highly recommend using it.

Excellent pool test strips! I have been trying different brands of test strips such as Clorox and HTH this season. I have to tell you that I absolutely love these! The reason is because they work better than other brands, and are extra large in size.

The ink doesn’t run on them like other brands always do. The testing chart on the bottle is very big and clear to read. The price is also amazing, you get 100 test strips for $19. 99 !.

I don’t know why I bought the 5 way. The only thing I check is the Chlorine and the PH. And as for the chlorine I have yet to get a reading out of the orange range and for the PH any reading at. I haven’t used any chlorine tablets for over a week, plus dumped half a bag of soda in the pool.

Even did a heavy back wash and the colors haven’t changed at all. I’ve had the pool for over ten years and never had this problem. So now I need to buy another tester just to test my tester.

Really like it. hate taking care of my pool, but the strips made it worse. all the colors looked the same to me. this is much easier to read. had in the sun, so we have to usually put it against something white.

we also had an issue early on and have already almost run out of the alk-30, so really hoping we can buy just that one for next year as everything else is fine. it’s so easy after a few times I didn’t even have to read the instructions, and went much faster.

very happy with it!.

I purchased this because the experts say to use a liquid test kit rather than strips. When it 1st arrived it did seem to be more accurate than the strips. Got used to it and after a month noticed that my spa was always a high pH, would adjust with acid but kept having climbing pH, meanwhile I had ordered a Taylor kit ($25) to additional (7 ) tests.

Found that the chemicals for pH had I guess gone bad!!!! This kit was only $10, but not worth the difference. Found that the containers don’t dispense the drops as nicely as the Taylor. Also the test color for the Total Akalinity is off.

Maybe I got sent old chemicals, but there is no dating on the packaging. I did call the seller, who promptly referred me the manufacturer. Sent them an email – no response in 4 weeks. Spend the extra!.

bought another kit was getting faults reading talk to a pool tec and he said don’t waste your time on these other kits buy Taylor so we went back to Taylor test kits, and the readings were normal

The Kit shown is not what was delivered. I paid more for the Taylor kit with the solid one piece top, and got something with a different top. I had this type, and ordered the Taylor Kit to get away from the other type.

Very disappointed.

As SO many others have stated, these don’t accurately test bromine! The strip is always white and regardless of how much bromine you use, the strip never detects any. I do not recommend this product.