Hach 145300 Total Hardness Test Kit, Model 5-b

I bought the Hach Model 5-B Total Hardness Test Kit because I was troubleshooting my water softener and needed real numbers — not guesswork. Test strips weren’t cutting it. I needed to know exactly what my grains per gallon were. My raw water tested at 7–8 drops (around 7–8 GPG), and after running multiple regen cycles and adjusting salt settings, I was still getting 7 drops on the “soft” side. That told me immediately something wasn’t right with my system — seals, piston, resin, something. Without this kit, I would’ve assumed the softener was working because it was cycling normally. The drop-count method is super simple: fill the tube, add drops until it turns blue, and count. That’s it. Clear, repeatable results every time. No vague color matching or guessing like cheap strips. And it’s consistent — I tested from multiple bibs and got matching numbers. If you’re serious about dialing in a water softener or diagnosing problems, this kit is worth every penny. It gives you facts, not feelings. Helped me narrow down my issue and saved me from replacing parts blindly. Highly recommend for homeowners who like to troubleshoot their own equipment instead of just throwing parts at it.

Exactly what I needed. Tests for the most common hardness in my area. It doesn't test for iron, but there's kits available for that. We have very hard water ( 29.2 gr. per gallon with 0.2 clear water iron) and use this to check my softener's efficiency. Checked the reserve capacity settings of my new softener by letting it run down to zero available gallons, doing the laundry, dishwasher,showers,etc. and then checking the hardness before it regenerated. Still less than 1 grain per gallon after all that. Helps to know if you need to set your softener to high efficiency or high capacity. Saves me a lot of wasted salt and water from having the wrong settings. This is far and away the handiest kit I've seen. More accurate than the test strip kits. Instructions are straightforward. I've used titration equipment previously in a lab setting and this is very basic by comparison. But it works admirably for it's price. Our local water department has sophisticated water testing facilities and this inexpensive kit is spot on with their results. It won't check to the tenth of a grain, but who really needs that in a homeowner setting. There's enough material to do more tests than I'll ever use. Seems I have a lot of friends now that need their water checked.

This kit works great! My daughter has been complaining that her hair doesn't feel clean after shampooing. She said she needs a different shampoo. Then it dawned on me that my hair has been feeling the same way. I told my husband that I think we have hard water and something is wrong with our water softener. He replied, "No, our water is not hard, it is soft" Hmmmm A friend stopped by last week and said, "what did you do to your hair??? It is lighter than I have ever seen it and it looks like you have Orange highlights!!" I had not done anything, but I did notice that my hair color was a bit different lately (I am a brunette) and didn't know why. She looked closer and felt the ends of my hair and said, "you have hard water". So, I went on Amazon to order the testing strips, but read the many reviews and finally decided this kit would be more accurate than the strips. I received it the next day. Sure enough, it took over 20 drops for the mixture to turn blue. Yep, our water is HARD! The company that installed our water softener came out today. The kit he brought with him was almost identical to this one. I watched him and it took 25 drops for the water to turn blue~ the softener is not working at all. He took the unit with him to do repairs. " Rebed & Valve Repair". The parts are under warranty, so we just have to pay for service & labor charges. He will be back Friday with the repaired water softener. The bad news: The labor and service charge is going to be over $550!! Wow, that seems high for the Service Charge and Labor Only!! Ugh :( However, I do highly recommend this test kit. Instructions on the box were clear and easy to follow. Maybe if we had bought this test earlier to use on occasion, we could saved some money in repairs. After it is fixed, I will think I will continue to use this kit on a Monthly basis to make sure the softener continues to be working as it should. ;).

The only negative is my dislike for the shape of the scoop, very thick, and holding the square shaped handle. I read old reviews implying instructions were buried under waves of papers. Instructions are printed on the side of the box as advertised on the webpage. The pages provided are legal disclosures associated with soda ash and ETDA. While the chemist might scream exhaust vent hood, goggles, apron, and nitrile gloves for all acids and bases, for developing good work practices... do some homework. A 0.015M solution of EDTA is a weaker acid than lemon juice. Watch u-tube videos of "experts" testing water hardness using this test kit. Better safe than sorry, but do not let a few overly concerned folks keep you from using this kit safely. Always treat acids and bases with respect. This product gives very reliable results at a fraction of costs for a mail away lab sample. Some reviewers use it to determine when to recharge their softener and compare results before and after a recharge to verify the softener is properly working. Each bottle of powder provides 100 tests worth of material. One reviewer recommends for people with water hardness above 30 grains, use DI water to dilute your test water, boosting the ability to test for 60 grains if mixed 50/50, doubling your number of drops at the end. I obtained a light blue vice dark blue color and repeated the test and then verified the accuracy by asking their website if my tests(s) were accurate. Yes, light blue counts as blue.

This kit was easy to use, and must have enough chemicals for 100 hardness tests. The results are precise and repeatable. I’m very pleased I bought the kit, as my suburb has very hard water, but because I have little water usage, my softener doesn’t necessarily refresh itself frequently enough. By occasionally monitoring the water hardness, I can force my softener to manually refresh (or just set the hardness setting artificially higher) so hard water doesn’t erode my hot water heater prematurely.