Tool
AI test strip reader
Photo your pool test strip and get instant readings — pH, free chlorine, total chlorine, total alkalinity, CYA, calcium hardness — plus exact dosing for whatever’s out of range. Works with every standard residential test strip brand.
Open the chat
Photo a strip → readings + dose in seconds
No signup needed for first 5 / day. Click below, tap the camera icon, snap your strip, hit send.
How AI test-strip extraction works
Pool test strips work by chemistry: each color pad reacts with a specific water property (pH, free chlorine, alkalinity, etc.) and shifts color along a printed comparison scale on the bottle. The human read is “match this pad to the closest scale shade.”
PoolAssist’s vision pipeline does the same thing in three steps:
- Photo quality pre-check. Before sending to the AI, your phone runs a brightness / contrast / blur analysis on the image. If it’s too dark, blown-out, or out of focus, you’re prompted to retake — saves a wasted AI call.
- Vision extraction. Claude reads the strip, identifies the brand and number of color pads, matches each pad to the printed scale on the bottle (when visible) or to the standard color reference for that pad type.
- Personalized dosing. The extracted readings get combined with your pool config (gallons, type, season, equipment) and your last 30 days of test history. The output is a specific chemical name + quantity for your pool — not a generic “your pH is high” warning.
When typing beats photo
A few cases where it’s actually faster to skip the photo and just type the readings into the chat:
- Drop-based kits (Taylor K-2006, K-2005). You already see numerical results in the comparator window; type them.
- Salt cell display readings (cell salt %, pH, ORP) — easier to read off the screen than to photograph it.
- Already-faded strips sitting on the counter for an hour — the colors are unreliable; redip a fresh one or type what you remember.
The chat accepts text, photos, or both — use whichever is faster in the moment.
FAQ
Which test strip brands are supported?
Any standard residential pool test strip — AquaChek 4-in-1 / 6-in-1 / 7-in-1 (the yellow tube), Taylor pad strip, HTH 6-Way, Clorox 3-in-1, La Motte ColorQ, Pentair, Hayward branded strips. As long as the color pads are visible and the photo is in focus, the AI reads the same way you would (matching pad color to the printed scale on the bottle).
How accurate is photo extraction vs typing the numbers myself?
For test STRIPS: roughly equivalent ±1 pad shade in good light. For DROP-BASED kits (Taylor K-2006, K-2005), photo accuracy depends on getting a clean shot of the comparator window — often easier to type the number you read. PoolAssist runs a photo-quality pre-check before the AI analysis: if the photo is blurry, dark, or angled, you're prompted to retake before any vision API tokens are spent. The chat asks you to confirm any reading that looked ambiguous.
What should the photo look like?
Hold the strip flat against a white or pale background, take the photo within the 15-second color-window per the bottle instructions, and shoot in indirect daylight (not under shade, not in direct sun). Get close enough that all color pads fill ~30% of the frame. Avoid the lens flare from sunglasses or sunscreen.
Does the AI know I have a salt pool / spa / hot tub?
Yes — once you set up your pool config in Settings (gallons, salt vs chlorine vs bromine, indoor vs outdoor, equipment list), every photo analysis factors that in. A salt pool with FC 0.5 gets different advice than a manual-chlorine pool with the same reading because the salt cell can fix it overnight at higher %.
Is this free?
Yes for the first 5 uploads per day without an account, 30 per day with a free account. Photos are processed by Anthropic Claude vision and not stored on our side — only the AI's text output is saved if you're logged in (so your history works). Full data policy in our privacy page.
What if my pool problem isn't a chemistry problem?
If the AI suspects equipment failure (pump, heater, SWG cell), structural damage, or a chemistry condition that exceeds DIY scope (mustard algae, persistent metal staining, extreme pH), it escalates and connects you to a vetted local pool pro on HiredLocalPros instead of guessing.
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