bcrdukes wrote:Curious where I can reliably buy a good, reputable water test kit for domestic use? I would like to test my water regularly. Thanks in advance!

The best kits for our purpose in my opinion are the drop titration kits from Hach. Their supporting documentation is very good. I use their total hardness, total alkalinity, and chloride kits. For measuring low levels of hardness with good precision, the more expensive HA-71A kit may be worthwhile.

What most people use is the inexpensive and widely available GH & KH kit from API fishcare. GH is a total hardness measure and KH is a total alkalinity. They can be stretched to get a little better precision at the low levels that coffee people are interested in seeing. (Normally you use a 5 ml test sample, and each drop corresponds to 17.8 mg/L CaCO3 equivalents. But if you find yourself a larger sample container and use a 10 ml sample, then each drop corresponds to 8.9 mg/L CaCO3 equivalent.

Thank you Pat!

Just as an update, we decided to get a whole home Kinetico water softener system. We did consider getting one a year ago but put it on hold while we got our first phase of renovations kick started.

Since being here for a year, the proof is in the pudding; The water here in Mississauga is hard and we (physically) are not responding well with the water hardness. Not to mention, our appliances are seeing taking the brunt of it too, especially my Rocket, Export, and Cremina. I'd hate to see our investments of our tankless hot water system, furnace, and washer/dryer go to waste in a short time span.

Installation date is TBD but I would expect in a couple of weeks. I'll then report back post 14 - 15 days with a water test after the system has been installed to see how it measures up. I am excited and thanks again to everyone who provided their input in this thread!