AquaChek Salt Titrators, White (561161)

Fairly accurate, but excellent repeatability. Once a good pool supply test has been attained, the error or difference between the test and strip is very linear and reliable. A must for chlorine generators.

These are the same strips that my local pool supplies store uses. These are not the color changing indicator strips, but rather the Quantab strips. Quantab is short for quantitative ability and is a registered trademark by the manufacturer Hach, who manufacturers all the AquaChek test strips. The sodium chloride test measurement range is 390-7,200 ppm, which is more than enough considering that the recommended level is 3,400 ppm for a salt water pool. The test is super easy and quick (3-4 minutes): 1) Collect a water sample from the deep end of the pool by dipping your arm to your elbow. I use an old spice glass jar, which is about 1-inch in diameter. You need to fill it up only 1 inch high. 2) Place the test strip inside but make sure it is only immersed about 1 inch. 3) After 3-4 minutes or as soon as the yellow band at the top has turned brown, take note of the white peak that has streaked up the strip. Read the number at that point and convert it to the salt ppm level based on the scale printed on the bottle. I'll upload a photo of one of my test strips. Please note that this bottle contains 40 strips. Although you can take a water sample to your local store for free testing, I like to test it myself at home and then I don't have to be pressured to get the water sample tested within 45 minutes. Like I said earlier, the store uses the same strips. They also sell the same strips, but the bottles have only 10 strips so the cost is a bit higher. According to our pool manual, the recommended maintenance schedule is to test the salt level monthly, so this bottle should last over 3 years. With that said, I received my bottle in May 2012 and the expiration date is March 2014, which is less than 3 years... Since we are adding salt to our pool, we are testing more frequently until we reach the recommended 3,400 ppm level, so I will probably consume all the strips before the expiration date. By the way, we do have a weekly pool maintenance person, but I like to test our pool water myself, since we have been adding bags of salt. Being a chemical engineer, I have considered buying the digital meter for a more precise reading, but it's unnecessary, more costly and would rather not deal with the hassle of calibration fluids. Overall, I would recommend the AquaCheck Quantab salt strips as well as the other AquaCheck strips, which I also use. The vendor was very quick for responding and shipping too.

Very intuitive and easy to use; very consistent outcomes as well, which is confidence-inspiring. I would have liked to see a short description of the chemical processes used; but all we get is that it can be used for measuring both sodium chloride and sodium bromide concentrations -- so is it based on sodium chemistry, or would it also measure potassium and calcium salts in the water? That's nitpicking, however, since it's perfectly fine for testing salt levels in a saltwater pool.

Excellent salt test strip, very accurate and simple to use. Just put in 1” of water, wait for the top strip to change black, and read the peak of the white mark. I took off one point because the label instructions was covered by a bar code sticker. Maybe the manufacture should put instructions to download with a QR code or redesign the label.

These strips are easy to use and have proven accurate in my testing. My Hayward T9 salt generator always lists salt levels that are far higher than what my local pool company measures. These salt strips match what my pool company measures within 100ppm. This allows me to keep my salt dialed in at the right level without having to guess. I only take water in for professional measurement about once per month so now I can keep everything stable the other weeks, especially after a big rain. You just pour an inch of pool water into a glass or container and then put in the strip for 2-3 minutes. The reading is very clear and there's no guesswork! Great product.

I live in the tropics and even with all the humidity these strips are reliable.

Wife uses them in the pool and they work

The reason I give a one star to generate attention because the numbers 1-9 should be place on either the right side or left side because when your apparent level is near or under the numbers it is extremely difficult to see if your level is for example 6.8 or 7 because you cannot see under the number 7. Hope in the future this will be corrected to avoid the aggravation in reading the correct level