I've used the Purtest and they are quick and easy and reasonably priced BUT, if I lived with well water I'd set up a budget to get the water routinely and COMPLETELY tested by an independent lab.

Living on a well is more complicated than living on a municipal water system. You have to make sure the well water is nice it needs to be SAFE. I wouldn't bet my health on a quick test.

If you only want to monitor hardness then the Purtest hardness is a great buy if you get 50 strips in a bottle.

Thanks for the response. I understand the safety issue and leave that to the professional labs.

I just want to make sure the softener is doing what it's supposed to, so I think I'll buy one of the test kits.

Consumer Reports recommended the Watersafe All-in-One test kit that can be found online for around $15-$20. I've got one but have not had a chance to use it.