water total hardness test strips Visual Reading Steps Step 1 Remove a test strip, taking care not to touch the reaction fields. Step 2 Immediately close the container again. Step 3 Dip the test strip for about 1-2 second into the fresh water specimen. Step 4 Read the result by comparing the color scale after 40 seconds. Package information 100 barrels/ carton (100 strips/ barrel) 50*24*26 cm, 7 kg