Testing strips are one of the most common tools for checking your swim spa’s water to ensure the levels are where they should be. These tiny testing strips show you your spa’s water chemistry in real-time so you can make adjustments quickly and efficiently. Below, we’ll provide you with everything you need to know about testing your spa’s water to ensure it is always sparkling and clean†.
The Pros and Cons of Checking Your Spa’s Water With Testing Strips
If you’ve ever used testing strips to check your spa or pool’s water, then you likely know how straightforward the procedure is and in a matter of 15 seconds, you have the results. The speed, accuracy and efficiency of testing strips are why they’re preferred by so many, and why they are excellent for day-to-day use. By taking a sample of the water and comparing the results on the strips to what’s displayed on the bottle they come in, you’re able to instantly see if your spa needs more chemicals or if the levels are good where they are. These strips show you a reading on pH, bromine, chlorine, and total alkalinity and hardness.
There are many advantages of using these strips; however, there are some potential things to keep in mind that could be considered their “cons.” The first thing to keep in mind is the fact that they’re relatively unstable if they’re not stored properly. Therefore, it’s important to ensure that you’re being diligent about where you keep them, which should be away from direct sunlight or anywhere where there’s a lot of moisture. Both of these things can ultimately render them useless, which will either give you inaccurate readings or not work at all. Additionally, it’s important to check the expiry date on the bottle before using it to ensure they’re still good. And although they are very accurate and great for daily use to maintain the health of your spa’s water, it might still be necessary from time to time to bring a sample of your spa or pool’s water to be checked by a spa dealer in your area.
Although there are a few potential things to note when using testing strips, there are ultimately simple fixes to ensure that they continue giving you accurate readings without any issues.
Maintaining Your Swim Spa Water With Testing Strips
Using testing strips is very simple, in which you collect a sample of water and dip the strips in. After waiting the recommended 15 seconds, you will see the change in colour on the strips. From here, compare these colours to the ones on the bottle and change the water by adding any necessary chemicals. Generally speaking, it’s best to check your spa’s levels every day, particularly if you’re using it daily. When checking, the pH should ideally be within the 7.2 o 7.8 range, as anything outside these numbers indicates that the water is imbalanced. If you see that the levels are off in specific areas, adding the appropriate chemicals should bring it back to where it’s supposed to be. However, if you’re unsure of how to approach this and would like some guidance or support, contacting your local pool or spa store is a great place to start. They should be able to let you know the potential reasons for an imbalance and what chemicals you should have on hand to address it. When it comes down to it, regardless of the approach you take, it’s just important that you’re taking the necessary steps to ensure your pool or spa water is in a healthy state. Because not only can imbalanced water affect all running parts of your spa, but it can also cause itchy or burning eyes for swimmers, making it a less than ideal swimming condition. At the end of the day, swim spas and pools are meant to be enjoyed, and by taking a few seconds at the beginning of each day to test the water levels, you are actively saying on top of the spa’s health and those using it.
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