Hard Water Test Kit
*This test kit is FREE when you purchase any of our water softeners*
Unlike hardness test strips, our hard water test kit will give you an accurate measurement of hardness (for example, 10 grains which is 171 ppm). It’s also easy to read the results, unlike with some test strips that have colors that tend to be difficult to differentiate between. Plus, it’s inexpensive and performs approximately 50-100 tests. It’s a tool we created to help you determine when your WaterStick water softener needs to be regenerated but it can also be used if you just want to know the hardness of your tap water.
How will the test kit help you know when you’ll need to regenerate? Note: Example below is for the “ShowerStick” but can be similarly applied to our other WaterSticks. After receiving your ShowerStick, you can first use the hard water test kit (included) to test your tap water to see what your actual water hardness is. After you install the ShowerStick, let the water run for a couple minutes then use the test kit and you’ll see that your water is now soft (0-3 grains). (Note: Don’t test the water after regenerating because it will give you a false positive since the salt will test as a mineral. Let the water run for at least 2 minutes then use the test kit.) After you take a couple more showers, test the water again. Continue to do this until the test kit starts to show the water is no longer soft then you’ll need to regenerate your ShowerStick. If you determine it needs to be regenerated after every 5 showers and you take 5 showers per week then you can make a mental note to do it every Monday for example.
Instructions:
- Add the water you wish to test to the etched line on the vial.
- Add 1 drop of solution, cover (with the palm of your hand or with the lid) and shake vigorously. If you see at least 1/4” of suds (bubbles) then you have completely soft water (zero grains). If not, see #3.
- Keep adding 1 drop at a time (shaking vigorously between drops) until you obtain 1/4″ of suds (bubbles). Every drop of solution (after the first drop that doesn’t count) it takes to obtain 1/4” of suds is how many grains of hardness your water is.
(12 drops (after the first drop that doesn’t count) = 12 grains)
Soft water: 0-51 ppm, 0-3 grains
Moderately hard water: 51-119 ppm, 3-7 grains
Hard water: 119-170 ppm, 7-10 grains
Very hard water: 170-238 ppm, 10-14 grains
Extremely hard water: 238+ ppm, 14+ grains
Water districts measure water hardness in “ppm” (parts per million). Many water softening companies and hard water test kits measure water hardness in “grains”.
grains x 17.1 = ppm
ppm/17.1 = grains
12 grains = 204 ppm
(Note: The solution bottle doesn’t include a lid (doesn’t need one). The vial the solution bottle stores inside includes a lid.)
This test kit is FREE when you purchase any of our water softeners