Hach Total Hardness Test Kit, Model 5-B, Water Analysis Kit for Drop Count Titration, with 2 Reagents, Measuring Tube, Square Bottle & Measuring Scoop, 145300

This kit works great! My daughter has been complaining that her hair doesn't feel clean after shampooing. She said she needs a different shampoo. Then it dawned on me that my hair has been feeling the same way. I told my husband that I think we have hard water and something is wrong with our water softener. He replied, "No, our water is not hard, it is soft" HmmmmA friend stopped by last week and said, "what did you do to your hair??? It is lighter than I have ever seen it and it looks like you have Orange highlights!!" I had not done anything, but I did notice that my hair color was a bit different lately (I am a brunette) and didn't know why. She looked closer and felt the ends of my hair and said, "you have hard water".So, I went on Amazon to order the testing strips, but read the many reviews and finally decided this kit would be more accurate than the strips. I received it the next day. Sure enough, it took over 20 drops for the mixture to turn blue. Yep, our water is HARD!The company that installed our water softener came out today. The kit he brought with him was almost identical to this one. I watched him and it took 25 drops for the water to turn blue~ the softener is not working at all. He took the unit with him to do repairs. " Rebed & Valve Repair". The parts are under warranty, so we just have to pay for service & labor charges. He will be back Friday with the repaired water softener.The bad news: The labor and service charge is going to be over $550!! Wow, that seems high for the Service Charge and Labor Only!! Ugh :(However, I do highly recommend this test kit. Instructions on the box were clear and easy to follow. Maybe if we had bought this test earlier to use on occasion, we could saved some money in repairs. After it is fixed, I will think I will continue to use this kit on a Monthly basis to make sure the softener continues to be working as it should. ;).

Bought this after I installed my water softener from springwell so I can test my water after about 2 weeks of use. Used it and it worked perfect and so easyyyyy to use!!! Thank you again.

I was a little hesitant about the cost of this kit, but it is great for testing hard water. I tested multiple samples to make sure it was correct and found it to be very accurate at telling you how many grains per gallon of hardness in the water. The best part is there is enough to test agan many times! I highly recommend!

Ok, so it’s accurate and easy to use, but the Hach company provides absolutely NO DOCUMENTATION with what the various hardness levels are. The bar code sticker is placed over the English instructions (really stupid to do this). The paper instructions that came in the box have three different languages, but NO ENGLISH.

Easy test kit. A good way to check the quality of your water softener.

I have tried test strips in the past, but it was usually a guessing game as the colors never matched up. HACH is a reputable vendor that provides accurate results. This test kit corelates 1 drop of titrant to 1 grain per gallon of hardness. The color change is very dramatic, so it is easy to determine the endpoint. I use this kit to test residential incoming water hardness to determine the setting for the water softener. I also use this to test the output of the water softener to make sure it is providing soft water. The kit is more expensive than the test strips, but well worth it for clear and accurate results.

I ran across this item on a Reddit thread about water softeners and decided to try this out prior to buying a softener. I assumed I had hard water from our well because of a little brown staining in sinks and the toilet along with water spots in the vehicles after washing them. Turns out that the water is really not that hard and I likely just of a little iron in the water.The test was easy to use and there are plenty of chemicals that you could probably run the test 50-100 times.

works as indicated---same kit used by professional water technicians.