Spa Water Test Meter / Digital pH tester

Testing and balancing your water pH is an important part of weekly spa maintenance. In this article we'll discuss how a digital spa water tester can make that easier!

Testing your spa water pH is an important part of your weekly spa maintenance. Do you find it hard to read test strips? If you’re working in low light or are colour impaired, you may find that test strips are hard to use.

Don’t despair! There is a better alternative for checking your spa water pH - using a digital spa water tester.

In this article, you'll learn:

What's a digital spa water tester?

A digital spa water tester or test meter is a battery powered portable device that you dip into your spa water. It will give you an accurate reading of your spa water pH almost immediately on an LCD display! No more fiddling with your test strips and trying to read the colours!

What is the most accurate way to test spa water?

A correctly calibrated digital tester will give you a more accurate reading than test strips - down to 1 decimal place.

You can test your spa water pH with a digital tester or with test strips. If you’re using test strips you will have to read the colour accurately and match with the colour chart on your test strip bottle.

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Do digital spa water testers work?

Yes! Digital spa water testers do an excellent job of testing your water pH, temperature, salinity and more.

A good quality digital spa water test meter will come with calibration sachets (known as buffer) so you can ensure your tester is set exactly right to give you an accurate reading.

How do you use a digital water tester?

Step 1. Insert batteries.

Most digital testers won’t ship with batteries, so you’ll need to get a set of new batteries and install them in the unit.

Step 2. Calibrate the digital tester

  • Dissolve one of each of the calibration sachets (pH buffer powder) that come with the unit into a small container of water. The AQDT digital tester comes with buffer powder sachets with a pH of 4.0, 6.86 and 9.18. Take a note of sachet you dissolve into each container
  • Remove the probe cover, turn the tester on and dip the base of the digital tester into each container and check the level. (It only needs to be dipped in about 20mm).
  • For the pH 4.0 solution, you should see a reading of 4.0 on the LCD display. If the reading is not accurate, follow the instructions that come with the unit to adjust the calibration.
  • Wipe the probe clean each time with fresh water before dipping the probe into another solution.
  • Repeat these steps for each of the buffer solutions and adjust calibration until all the readings are correct.

Step 3. Dip the tester into your spa water

Once calibration is complete, you are ready to use your digital tester in your spa. Ensure the probe cover is removed and the unit is powered on and set to pH mode, then dip the tester into your spa water. You’ll see your pH reading display on the LCD screen.

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What is the best digital spa water tester

We recommend the AQ Digital Water tester - it is accurate, easy to use, and it can also test your water temperature and salinity.

It will measure your pH up to 1 decimal place and can be calibrated with the buffer sachets that come with it.

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Are spa test strips accurate?

Spa test strips will change colour according to the pH or alkalinity and give you an indication of your water balance within a range. It can be difficult to judge the colours accurately especially if you’re testing your water in the dusky evening light.

How Cold Temperatures Affect Your Pool/Spa Water Testing

Your water temperature does make a difference to the chemical reactions of your sanitiser in your spa water.

Because of this, you do want to make sure that your spa temperature is within the ideal range of 34-38 degrees celsius. Having a temperature gauge built into your digital spa tester makes it easy to check that your water is within the right temperature range.

Is there a digital chlorine tester?

Yes digital chlorine testers are available, however we always recommend following the dosing instructions on your chlorine sanitiser for a daily dose to ensure that bacteria is killed and your water is safe.

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Got more questions?

Talk to us or email us your spa questions and we'll be happy to help!

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