Refill colorq test kit or other kit of strips?

[Malka]

I’m the new caretaker of an indoor spa.

I’m trying to get a handle on the chemicals. I found an assortment of unopened test kits. The newest expired 2 years ago. I read up on this and I tossed all of them.

I bought a new tube of test strips.

There is a ColorQ kit here. It’s the colorq pro7 tablet version. The bottom of the machine says gen3. All of the reagents expired 8/2014.

I want to be precise enough to be able to navigate all of the trial-and-error involved in balancing the chemicals.

The colorq refills are pricey. Is it worth it?
Are the other test kits just as accurate without the drama?

I intend to test every day.
Thanks!

 

[kimkats]

Hi and welcome to TFP! This first thing we need to know is if this is considered a public or private pool.

For the test kits or guess strips go ahead and toss everything you have.

Here is a link to the different test kits: Test Kits Compared I think the TF-100 is the best bang for the buck as it has more of the regents we use each day.

 

[Malka]

Thanks so much! What’s the distinction between public and private?

 

[kimkats]

Private it is in a back yard of a home and is owned by the home owner. Public is where it is located on public land and is owned by a company or the state or county.

 

[Rocket J Squirrel]

The chemical difference is that with a public pool or spa, there may be local regulations on the chemistry. Such legalities might prevent following the TFP recommended chemical levels. If your installation might be visited by an inspector with a test kit, it's public and you'll have to follow their regulations and not necessarily TFP's.

 

[Malka]

Thanks for explaining.

 

[Rocket J Squirrel]

So which is it? Public or private?

 

[Malka]

Private

 

[Malka]

(Not sure if my message posted)
We are private.
Just read all of the local and state regulations, in case there was something I should know. Scary to think that each reg represents at least one person with a serious accident.
Confident we are in compliance with everything. I’m here to make sure we are 100% with the property maintenance code part about “clean and sanitary”.