Reading Borate Test Strip

[maxepr1]

Ok so what is this reading? Looks like maybe 50? This is after adding all but 8 lbs. of what the Pool Calculator said to put in. When I tested before I put ANY in the test was the same reading? Matter of fact every test looks like this! I hate test strips!

 

[Bama Rambler]

Looks like 30-50-80 to me. I hate test strips too! So I'm going with 53.3333! there! How's that for an answer?

Just funning folks.

 

[maxepr1]

LOL...I should be good! A little short of the calculators estimate. I think it's 50 but like I said all 4 tests I've done have been the same!

 

[Lana537]

Ugh! How annoying!

It makes me want to run home and test my bottled water, my tap water, and then the pool.....

It looks to me as if you have a jar of LaMotte's strips, and they are considered to be a good name. Any chance that the strips aged/got compromised somehow, so that now they aren't working well?

Lana

 

[maxepr1]

Just bought them 2 weeks ago with my Tf100 test kit. I'll look and see if they have a born on date. They are LaMotte.

 

[JasonLion]

Fortunately the borate level only needs to be approximately right.

 

[chem geek]

Looks like 50-80, but the photo isn't great for that sort of thing. You can always test tap water to see what 0 looks like on the test patch.

 

[TripleB4me]

Check my math on this, but wouldn't 3 teaspoons of borax in a 5 gal pale be 80 ppm? If so it could be used as another calibration point.

 

[JasonLion]

I get 2.7 teaspoons in 5 gallons for 80 ppm. Remember the error on measuring teaspoons is going to be fairly large.