What Is an HTH Kit?
An HTH kit is a pool chemical testing kit that can help you test a multitude of different chemical levels. When pool owners need to test their pool’s water, they often buy individual products to test their pool with. However, this isn’t necessary. HTH kits can help streamline the pool testing process because they contain all of the necessary materials to test various chemical levels in your pool. It also offers pool testing kits that cover the basic chemicals that need to be in your pool.
HTH also offers kits that test more than just the basic chemicals. The basic HTH test kit is called the 3-way test kit while the more advanced testing kit is called the 6-way test kit. Depending on your particular situation, you may need either the 3-way kit or the 6-way kit. The 3-way kit contains materials to test chlorine, bromine, and pH. The 6-way kit contains materials to test chlorine, bromine, pH, total alkalinity, total hardness, and cyanuric acid.
Which Kit Do I Need?
Choosing an HTH kit may seem difficult, but it’s really not with the right knowledge. The 3-way kit offers a way to test just the basic level of chemicals that always need to be maintained in your pool. If you’re looking for a quick solution to check these levels, it’s best to go with the 3-way kit. HTH even offers refills for the 3-way kit if you run out of testing material. If you’re looking to be a little more thorough with your pool water testing, you may want to opt for a 6-way kit.
In addition to the testing what the 3-way kit tests, the 6-way kit allows you to test alkalinity, hardness, and cyanuric acid. While these levels may not be at the forefront of pool water health, they do play an important part in maintaining pool water. Testing alkalinity levels will help you fine tune pool pH levels. Testing how hard your pool’s water is will help you control scale buildup, and testing cyanuric acid levels will help you maintain the chlorine content in your pool.
Will a Pool Test Kit Tell Me What Chemical Levels I Need?
HTH kits will give you an idea of the optimal range for the levels of chemicals in your pool. However, each pool is a little different. The best rule to follow when it comes to pool chemical levels is to consult your specific pool’s manual. In your manual, you will find the proper levels to maintain your pool at. If you don’t have a pool manual though, you’re always welcome to contact Clear Choice Pool Care & Maintenance at (214) 995-3556 at for assistance. We would be happy to let you know what chemical levels your pool needs to stay safe, clean, and healthy.
However, a good guide to go by is that pool’s usually need a pH of about 7.4 and chlorine levels around 3 parts per million. Bromine should be around 5 parts per million. Alkalinity should be around 125 parts per million, water harness from calcium should be 200 parts per million, and cyanuric acid levels should be around 40 parts per million.
How to Use an HTH Kit
Because all of the required material to test your pool’s chemical levels come in a single HTH kit, it’s actually quite simple to do so. Each HTH kit, whether it’s the 3-way or 6-way kit, offers instructions on how to test your pool’s levels. Testing pH is quite simple. HTH kits come with a strip-style system that allows you to test your pool’s water. All you need to do is dip a pH strip into the water and wait a moment as it changes color. After the color has changed, HTH offers a color guide to determine what the level of pH is.
After testing the pH, you can move on to testing other levels. Some of the other chemical tests use strips like the pH test, but some may require you to take a sample of water from your pool and use a dropper. The chemicals inside the dropper will react with the chemicals in your pool and change color. You will be able to determine chemical levels based on what color your pool’s water changes to.
How Often Do I Need to Test My Water with a Pool Test Kit?
Using an HTH kit makes testing water easy and fast, but how often should you test your water? It’s recommended by most pool experts to test weekly to maintain steady levels. If it seems like a huge time commitment every week just to test levels, don’t fret! Clear Choice Pool Care & Maintenance can help you with a weekly pool service!
Why spend time testing your pool’s water when you could be swimming? Our weekly pool service will make sure your pool chemical levels are always correct, and we’ll even correct them if they’re not optimal. You’ll never need to worry about nasty things growing in your pool again! We also offer other services including pool repair, pool remodeling, and pool resurfacing. We promise to provide our professional and quality service if you choose us.
