If you're looking to test your water, you've made it to the right place. The steps below will help you identify if your water is hard or soft by testing your raw and treated water. Let's get started!
Before You Start
- Make sure the faucet you're using and temperature of the water (either hot or cold) is coming from the water softener. Some may not be connected to it, so you'll want to be sure the faucet you're using is.
- After testing, feel free to check out our Hardness Level Programming article to ensure your softener is programmed correctly.
Common Testing Options
Hardness Test Strip
- You can request a free hard water test strip from us, or find packs of strips at your local hardware store, or online.
- Instructions on the back of the strip: Dip the strip in water for 3 seconds, then remove. Do not shake. Wait 20 seconds, then match with closest color block on chart. Colors are stable for 1 minute.
Soap Test
- Fill a bottle one-third full with water from your faucet, and add a few drops of pure liquid soap. Shake vigorously for a few seconds and watch for fluffy bubbles to form. If your water is soft, you should have a lot of bubbles. If there's a lack of bubbles, your water may be hard.
TDS Meter - Not a valid test for hardness
TDS means Total Dissolved Solids. This is not a valid test to measure hardness levels. TDS meters will not show you the degree in which your water softener is performing. These meters are testing for all dissolved solids, and your water softener does not reduce the amount of solid minerals in the water - it exchanges hardness minerals for sodium or potassium minerals. If you perform this test, you'll likely see a similar reading on both raw and treated water.
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