Greetings All - which testkits do I need?

Am very excited to have found this site. It looks to be much more user-friendly than my local pool store. I am very new to pool care, and have so far relied on their testing and recommendations for chemicals. This is becoming a financial drain. It looks like the first step should be the purchase of a good test kit. My first question is, of the test kits you have recommended, do I need both the K-2006, and the smaller ( can't remember the number ) one? It looks like the larger kit is for testing everything and the smaller one is for daily use, and test only the basics. Thanks for the help!

Hi, and welcome to the forum!!

You are smart to get your own kit and do your own testing. Pool store testing is notorious for being designed to sell chemicals. If you're testing your own water, you have much more control over what goes into your pool and you will find that it is SO much easier and less expensive!!

The K-2006 kit will test for everything you need with the exception of salt or metals. If you have a SWCG, you will need to get salt strips. If you have metals in your water (mostly will happen if you fill with well water), then you'll need to get that tested for either at the pool store, or if it's in your municipal water supply, your water department can give you an analysis of the metal content. But if you have no SWCG, and no metal issues, then the K-2006 is really all you need. The smaller OTO kit (the one that uses red and yellow drops) is good for taking "snapshots" of your water--quick testing to make sure pH is in range and there is some chlorine in the pool, but for exact measurements, the 2006 is what you want.

Looks like the K-2006 is in my future. Thank you for the quick response!

Good decision to get the K-2006. But, I would also suggest getting a cheap OTO/Phenol Red kit. Like Jan said, it is good for quick testing. I actually use my OTO test a lot of the time for my daily chlorine and pH checks, and my K-2006 kit weekly or so.

membership upgraded. -ben