Hach 145300 Total Hardness Test Kit, Model 5-B

I’m glad I got this water hardness test kit. I thought our city water had 7 grains/gallon, but after using this test, it was really 18! Now the water softener knows what it’s up against. Great testing kit!

Easy to use test kit. After a couple tries, you can carry out a test in probably under 2 minutes, maybe faster. I've done about 10 tests, and no really noticeable 'dent' in the remaining product amounts, so I'm guessing this kit is good for MANY tests (maybe 100+). I use it in my home to test how my water softener is doing (the softener is somewhat older, and I wasn't believing that the hardness was being effectively reduced, or at least that the softener was capable of processing/softening as many gallons as it should between recharges). This kit confirmed my suspicions. The color change (endpoint of test) is VERY easy to see (color change from pink to blue. The blue comes on fast (maybe there's about 1 drop during the drop-addition process where the color is more purple than blue). For home use, this is plenty accurate enough (in my case - hard water is 22-24 drops/grains) and I'm getting around 4 drops when 'soft'. Thus, the difference is easily noticeable with this kit, and if I test daily, I can see the softness 'decrease' (hardness increase) in the last day or 2 before a recharge is required. PS. shipped out and received product very quickly (in Canada) within about 3 days after order placement, and that wasn't an expedited shipment.

I hate the slimy soap residue left by soft water. I used this test kit to fine tune the amount of bypass on my water softener so I have a bit of hardness in my water to improve rinsing.I also used it to confirm which fixtures were plumbed for soft and which were plumbed for hard water.The contractor told me the kitchen sink and the refrigerator were plumbed with hard water for drinking water. With this kit I was able to determine he was right about the kitchen sink but the Refrigerator is plumbed with soft water.Highly recommend this kit.

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. ;).

This kit works and produces results that precisely align with my city's published water-hardness reports, which claim 10-14 grains/gallon of hardness.I ran two tests several weeks apart and amazingly actually got the exact results of 10 and 14 grains of hardness on those two tests respectively, right in line with the city reports. (I am using it to fine-tune my water-softener's recharge schedule.)The kit includes an instruction leaflet in multiple languages which apparently confused some people because it doesn't include English; that's because the English instructions are printed right on the box.In short this test kit works perfectly, it's easy to use and understand and will give you accurate results you can trust.