Method and kit for determining if a shock treatment is necessary for a water source

A kit for determining if a shock treatment is required for a water source, comprising:

• one or more test strips having at least two chemically treated test areas and one area is responsive in color to a concentration of free chlorine in the water and the other test area is responsive in color to a concentration of total chlorine in the water;
• a chlorine indicator scale on a substrate, wherein the chlorine indicator scale does not include numeric values and comprising:
• three pairs of colored indicia and each colored indicia representing a color pattern indicating a concentration, or range of concentrations, of total chlorine and free chlorine in the water, the three pairs of colored indicia comprising three columns and two rows, wherein a first row comprises three colored first indicia and wherein a second row comprises three colored second indicia, wherein each of the three pairs comprises a first indicia from the first row located and aligned above a corresponding second indicia and wherein a first of the three pairs comprises a first colored indicia color and a corresponding second colored indicia color representing low or no concentrations of total chlorine and free chlorine in the water, wherein a second of the three pairs comprises a first colored indicia color and a corresponding second colored indicia color representing a concentration of total chlorine greater than a concentration of free chlorine in the water, and a third of the three pairs comprises a first colored indicia color and a corresponding second colored indicia color representing substantially equal concentrations of total chlorine and free chlorine in the water;
• and
• an alphabetical designation adjacent to each pair of indicia, wherein the alphabetical designation adjacent to the first of the three pairs and the second of the three pairs comprises a term “shock” indicating a shock treatment is required for the water without requiring a numeric calculation of a concentration of combined chlorine and wherein the alphabetical designation adjacent to the third of the three pairs indicates a shock treatment is not required for the water without requiring a numeric calculation of a concentration of combined chlorine.

A method for determining if a shock treatment is required for a water source, comprising:

• wetting a test strip with water, wherein the test strip has at least two chemically treated test areas and one area is responsive in color to free chlorine in the water and the other test area is responsive in color to a total amount of chlorine in the water;
• referring to a chlorine indicator scale on a substrate, wherein the chlorine indicator scale does not include numeric values and comprising:
• three pairs of colored indicia and each colored indicia representing a color pattern indicating a concentration, or range of concentrations, of total chlorine and free chlorine in the water, the three pairs of colored indicia comprising three columns and two rows, wherein a first row comprises three colored first indicia and wherein a second row comprises three colored second indicia, wherein each of the three pairs comprises a first indicia from the first row located and aligned above a corresponding second indicia and wherein a first of the three pairs comprises a first colored indicia color and a corresponding second colored indicia color representing low or no concentrations of total chlorine and free chlorine in the water, wherein a second of the three pairs comprises a first colored indicia color and a corresponding second colored indicia color representing a concentration of total chlorine greater than a concentration of free chlorine in the water, and a third of the three pairs comprises a first colored indicia color and a corresponding second colored indicia color representing substantially equal concentrations of total chlorine and free chlorine in the water;
• and
• an alphabetical designation adjacent to each pair of first and second indicia, wherein the alphabetical designation adjacent to the first of the pairs and the second of the pairs comprises a term “shock” indicating a shock treatment is required for the water based on a color pattern of the pair of first and second indicia and wherein the alphabetical designation adjacent to the third of the pairs indicates a shock treatment is not required for the water based on a color pattern of the third of the pairs of first and second colored indicia;
• identifying which pair of first and second indicia on the substrate represents the colors of the test pads on the test strip to determine whether a shock treatment is required as set forth in the alphabetical indication adjacent to the identified pair of first and second indicia, without calculating a concentration of combined chlorine.