Cheapest way to get reliable water test for hardness and iron?

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Anyone know? I cant find anywhere that's not very expensive, and the home testing kits all seem awful. Thanks!
 

DonL

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Many places around here that sell Water Softener Systems will test for free.

Of course they expect that you may buy their system, and I guess you should, but many people don't.
 

ditttohead

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What do you consider expensive? I am partial to the Hach 5b test kit for softness, and for simple feild iron testing, the sensafe iron test strips for quick testing. The Exact series by Sensafe are excellent, but more expensive than what a homeowner would need.
 

Gary Slusser

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Anyone know? I cant find anywhere that's not very expensive, and the home testing kits all seem awful. Thanks!

Well you don't need Olympic rifle at 3000 meters accuracy ya know, a shot gun approach works well and test kits from a hardware or big box store git'er done just fine. And how often are you going to use a test kit?

BTW, ditto is wealthy, going off into the realm of the 1% folks I'm sure, so for him to think expensive is a stretch on his part.
 

ditttohead

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Not sure why the personal attacks are needed.

A Hach 5B is a relatively inexpensive kit at $25.

The iron test strip kits are approximately $10-$15.

A tds meter is also a good tool to have for $15-20 bucks.

Dont know if that would set you into the poor house, but it sounds like a reasonable kit to me. My own personal test kits are worth thousands of dollars, but the the items listed above are what I use 95% of the time, then my exact micro 7 from Sensafe.
 

Mikey

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I'm in the 1% at the other end, but spent the big bucks to get a Hach Chlorine, Hardness, Iron, and pH Test Kit, Model CN-39WR, mostly because the water chemists I used to work with recommended it. I still think it's pricey, but Hach support has been outstanding.
 

Killer95Stang

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Same here... I bought the Hach 5B.. which worked flawlessly, with repeatable results. Six months later, I just finished having a pool built and now I use the Hach 5b to test the pool water hardness (pool fill water doesn't pass through softener).
 

DonL

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Same here... I bought the Hach 5B.. which worked flawlessly, with repeatable results. Six months later, I just finished having a pool built and now I use the Hach 5b to test the pool water hardness (pool fill water doesn't pass through softener).


The Chlorine should eat any Iron in the water. Is your water sweet ?
 
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