Hach 2745250 Total Hardness Test Strips, 0-425 mg/L

Going to be running around to other family and friends to offer to check. Because so many came in this pack, and I believe that these do have an expiration date, I wont use them much more. I just wanted to make sure my water softener was set up correctly, which it appears to be. If there are some left after doing family and friends (if they even care) I will check again in a month and every month until they are used up as well. Happy to see that my new water softner seems to be set right and working well. Been running it for 2 months already to make sure its gone through at least one cycle.I'll update if anything changes, but don't expect to. Great bang for your buck!

Accurate and distinguishable color gradient graph with instant results. Beware of other manufacturers that have rather indistinguishable color gradientsI already knew my utility water system entering the house was 17grains/213ppm of hardness through my local municipal utilities web site. These strips nailed the color accurately. After the water softener it's close to zero grains of hardness.Allowed me to verify that all my water outlets were properly plumbed. The ONLY outlets in my home that produce hard water are the cold side of the kitchen sink, the cold side of the bar sink, the cold water feed to the refrigerator water dispenser and ice maker, the lawn sprinkler system and the two outdoor faucets. ALL other outlets (and mean all) are soft, yes, including the toilets. Don't let anyone tell you that just the hot water outlets need be softened - absolutely incorrect.

These test strips work very well. I tested them side-by-side with the water hardness test kit that my water softener salesman used and the results were right on the money in every case. I use these periodically to insure that my expensive water softener is working properly. The results are immediately observable making them quick and easy to use. Update after first purchase, I have purchased additional test strips, they continue to work well.

Delivery was fast, and strips are easy to use. My only worry is whether they are really accurate. Every time I test our water the strips show the same color, whether it is before or after the softener runs. So, I don't really know if it is that our softener isn't making a difference or if the strips don't really work? I did crush up a calcium tablet and put it in some water and then the strips did show a different color indicating high amount of hardness, so my guess is that they do work. I don't want to spend the $$$ for a testing meter, so these strips are at least giving me a sense of ballpark levels of hardness.

Hach Test strips are very accurate and easy to use. Bought as a replacement for same brand test strips that had expired. Accuracy verified by maintenance company who uses a professional chemical test.

I ordered these to confirm the hardness of the water in our building. It quickly validated the readings we had gotten from professionals. To test something other than our water supply, I checked a bottle of purified water (reverse osmosis with some minerals supposedly added back). As expected, it showed the bottled water to be very soft. I then checked a bottle of local spring water. As expected, it showed as hard. A very worthwhile investment to do a quick water quality check.

I just got a new water softener and was using pool test strips to set how much salt my system should use. Because the pool strips used purple and blue, it was difficult to read. I saw the Hach strips on Amazon and wanted to try them because the contrast of colors looked easy to read. The strips work, if all you want to know is if your water is hard, medium, or soft. I found these strips to be useless to calibrate how hard the water is. My outdoor hose produced a light brownish yellow color that didn't match the range of colors on the bottle. If I had to guess, I would have said the Hach strips rated my water at 25+ grains per gallon. I went back to my pool strips and it indicated my water was 14 grains per gallon. Later I found a website that reported the average hardness in my city was 14 grains per gallon (perfect match to my pool strip). I still rated the HACH product with three starts because it provides a quick way to see if you softener is working. Also, while my pool test strips were great at calibrating hardness, they did a horrible job with soft water calibration (reading zero all the time unless you got to about 8-10 grains per gallon). The strength of this product is calibrating the softness of your water. The treated water in the house matched the color scale for soft water. I have a water softener with a valve that allows you to mix in a little hard water to reduce the slimy feel and improve the taste of the water. Using the test strips I was able to adjust my water from 0 to 1.5 grains per gallon by adjusting the valve with repeated water strip tests. If you just want to calibrate the amount of salt your system should use, I would recommend a professional testing or contact your city to find out the average hardness in your location.

This kit was so great! I tested so many different kinds of water- my tap water, distilled water, reverse osmosis water, etc. and got all different results. I highly recommend this especially for people that have bought a shower filter. These strips showed me that the water from my shower filter was almost as hard as my tap water.The strips worked just as the instructions said and I could see the colors start to change immediately. As another reviewer recommended, it is best to use natural light (I just sat in front of a window) to see the difference between olive green and brown.

Was a bit wary as there aren't many reviews and a pretty bad one. The bad one mentions TDS (Total Dissolved Solids) though and TDS doesn't just measure Magnesium and Calcium, which water hardness is about.I tried these immediately after arriving on our softened water (showed around 0). Then I bypassed the softener and filter and it showed between 7 and 15. Then tried some bottled mineral water we had around and it showed above 15. I'm convinced these work.FWIW after reading review on many _other_ test kits I put some dessicant (silica) into the bottle with the test strips to ensure they don't get screwed up from moisture in the air when opening them up. May or may not be needed.

same ones my proffesional guy uses

The strips did not change colour at all , even though the water showed as hard water on the TDS water gauge..