Free Chlorine and Combined Chlorine both work well as sanitizers and disinfectants, though both do have several noteworthy drawbacks.  You will find a few listed below:

Health Concerns: Chlorine can make you very ill if ingested in too great a quantity. Also, those who have recently undergone chemotherapy or other cancer treatment procedures may want to consult with their physician about the possibility of chlorine interfering with the medications they take.

Aesthetic Concerns: Chlorine tends to make water smell and taste like a swimming pool. The last time you accidentally swallowed pool water, you probably thought or said, “Yuck. This tastes nasty.” Therefore, water treatment companies of all shapes and sizes, varieties and forms manufacture and sell a number of different devices that remove chlorine from drinking water.

For more information on easy-to-use chlorine testing products, please visit www.sensafe.com or call Industrial Test Systems, Inc. at 800-861-9712.

For additional information on chlorine levels in your local water supply, call your local Health Department. For detailed information on guidelines pertaining to the use of chlorine in drinking water, visit the USEPA’s website.

Many people do not know that chlorine in water comes in three basic varieties: Free, Combined and Total.

• Picture free chlorine as a 100% ready-for action superhero that cannot wait to wipe out just about any biological contaminant it encounters.  It has both hands free and ready to fight.
• Picture combined chlorine as that very same superhero after it wrestled and defeated a biological contaminant. The two ‘locked horns’ and now cannot separate despite the superhero having won the fight.  The superhero can still attack other biologicals, but think of it now as having only one of its hands free to attack other biologicals… and thus it cannot fight as effectively.

OK, So What is this Total Chlorine?

Simply put, total chlorine is the sum of the free chlorine plus combined (used) chlorine in the water.  See the following equation:

(Free Chlorine) + (Combined Chlorine) = Total Chlorine

The USEPA has set the Maximum Contaminant Level (MCL) for TOTAL chlorine in potable water at 4.0 ppm.

This means water dispensed by a water stystem must contain less than 4.0 ppm total chlorine… or the system is in violation of Federal Law and subject to geting fined and/or shut down by the USEPA if their total chlorine readings continue to exceed Federal Guidelines.

Testing for Free/Total Chlorine?

As a general rule, most water treatment facilities use a method called “DPD Testing” to determine the chlorine concentrations in drinking water.  Other methods for testing exist, though most are not officially approved by the USEPA and may not be used for reporting purposes.

As of Spring 2007, though, the USEPA began allowing states to approve the use of an alternate, yet equal, faster method called SenSafe(tm) Free Chlorine Water Check when tsting for free chlorine residual.  For detailed information on that product, please visit the Industrial Test Systems, Inc. web site.

That same company also manufactures a dip-n-read test strip for total chlorine referenced by the USEPA only as a screening method for total chlorine concentrations in wastewater.  [see Federal Register / Vol. 72 No. 47 / Monday, March 12, 2007 / Rules and Regulations]

Testing for Combined Chlorine?

You may also see combined chlorine called ‘chloramines’ in certain literature and some water systems actually use them to sanitize/disinfect the water they supply. Though not as effective a killing tool as free chlorine, they do get the job done.

If you wish to test for them, you may wish to try the WaterWorks^TM 2 Free & Total Chlorine test strips because simply subracting the free chlorine value from the total chlorine value will give you the combined chlorine concentration in your water.

Many public and private water systems use a form of chlorine known as free chlorine to sanitize/disinfect the water they supply to their users. While having clean, safe drinking water does matter, and chlorine helps make water that way, certain problems may arise if chlorine concentrations get too high.

The USEPA has set the Maximum Contaminant Level (MCL) for free chlorine in potable water at 4.0 ppm.

This means water dispensed by a water stystem must contain less than 4.0 ppm free chlorine… or the system is in violation of Federal Law and subject to geting fined and/or shut down by the USEPA if their free chlorine readings continue to exceed Federal Guidelines.

How do they test for free chlorine residual?

As a general rule, most water treatment facilities use a method called “DPD Testing” to determine the free chlorine concentration in the water they distribute.

As of Spring 2007, though, the USEPA began allowing states to approve the use of an alternate, yet equal, faster method called SenSafe(tm) Free Chlorine Water Check.  For detailed information on that product, please visit the Industrial Test Systems, Inc. web site.

As of January 1, 2006, all daycare centers in the State of North Carolina must have the ability to test the chlorine content in both their sanitizing and disinfecting solutions. Previously the law stated that they had to test only the chlorine concentration in their sanitizing solutions.

Chlorine concentrations in disinfecting solutions have to fall between 500 ppm and 800 ppm free chlorine and the test strips previously used by child care and daycare facilities only had to read free chlorine concentrations in the range of 50 ppm free chlorine to 200 ppm free chlorine.

Several test strip manufacturers have attempted to address this new testing need but only Industrial Test Systems, Inc. manufactures a product which satisfies it directly.

Waterworks(TM) Free Chlorine Check Ultra High II from Industrial Test Systems, Inc. has an easy-to-read color chart, acceptable chlorine concentration levels clearly marked on each bottle, and instructions for mixing BOTH chlorine solutions listed on each bottle.

To make life even easier on daycare and child care center operators, Industrial Test Systems, Inc. has also created a Daycare Kit which includes (3) bottles of their North Carolina Licensed Child Care Association approved test strips, quarter cup and tablespoon measuring devices (for proper on-site metering of the bleach), and a copy of the procedures North Carolina wants child care workers to follow when mixing their sanitizing and disinfection solutions.

For more information on this product, please visit www.sensafe.com or call 800-861-9712.

People use peroxide for a number of applications including, but not limited to:

• A sanitizer/disinfectant in a potable water systems, medical facilities, food processing facilities

• Cleansing agent in silicon wafer manufacturing facilities

• Part of a cyanide in water destruction system

• Sanitizer in a swimming pool or hot tub

In each of these applications the concentration of peroxide matters. Therefore anyone using peroxide as a disinfectant/sanitizer typically needs to measure its concentration.  

Testing for Peroxide in Water? 

Depending on one’s application, one of the following products ought to work quite well: Peroxide Check, Peroxide Check Low Range or Peroxide Check High Range.

Combined, all three products allow users to accurately detect peroxide concentrations as low as 0.05 ppm and as high as 30,000 ppm (3% solution).

Testing for Peroxide in Organic Solvents? 

Due to the potentially volatile nature of some organic solvents, laboratory personnel must check certain organic solvents such as ethers, cyclohexanol, benzyl alcohol, styrene, and others for the presenece of peroxides.

These compounds can form dangerously high levels of peroxides when exposed to various naturally occurring elements such as light, heat, or the introduction of a contaminant. High levels of organic peroxides create a dangerous situation because even the slightest change in heat, vibration and/or friction can trigger an explosion. (See this Peroxide Formation Information Page for more information on the hazards associated with the formation of peroxides in organic solvents.)

Typical chemical indicators/compounds that work in aqueous environments (water) often come from organic solvents, thus making them water insoluble and useful for testing in water. If those same indicators find themselves in placed back into organic solvents, they will, as a general rule, go back into solution.

Procedures for peroxide testing in organic solvents do exist, however for safety reasons we will not list them here. Instead, we suggest you contact a manufacturer of peroxide test strips such as Industrial Test Systems, Inc. at 800-861-9712 for that information.

Most people hear and about cyanide and think of the toxic gas used in gas chambers, but few know just how easily they could locate cyanide in their everyday life if they looked a bit closer.

Cigarette smoke acts as a common source of cyanide that most of us encounter on a daily basis. The cores of peach pits also contain a measurable quantity of cyanide. Want proof? Pick up a Cyanide Science Fair Kit and see for yourself.

For those of you with more lofty and/or scientific cyanide testing objectives, take a look at Cyanide ReagentStrip^TM test kit. Common uses for this kit include testing runoff water leaving metal plating companies and testing the output water from wastewater treatment plants.

Does quick and dirty cyanide testing exist?

Terrorist actions worldwide have spawned fears of chemical attacks and the spiking of public water supplies with cyanide. As a result of these fears, the demand for a fast, reliable presence/absence cyanide test arose.

Soldiers, environmental protection groups, water system operators, emergency responders, healthcare professionals, and others now rely upon fast, accurate presence-absence water testing kits such as the Cyanide Emergency Test Kit to warn them instantly if water in their presence contains between 0.2 ppm to 1700 ppm free cyanide.

For more information on this product, please visit www.sensafe.com or call Industrial Test Systems, Inc. at 800-861-9712 for more details.

The United States Environmental Protection Agency has determine that lead concentrations in water at or above 15 ppb (parts per billion) pose significant health risks to humans. They require public water systems to test for lead regularly.

Does this mean your water supply is ’safe’ from lead contamination?

Example 1: In Albany, NY a few years ago water samples taken from the drinking fountains of a public grade school contained excessive quantities of lead.

Example 2: Older homes sometimes contain ‘original’ plumbing and at one point the solder used to connect pipes contained lead.

Example 3: Some water systems have retro-fitted their water treatment plants with all new lead-free plumbing/piping but the lines running to your home from the street may still contain metal fitting capable of leaching lead into your water supply given the proper pH and alkalinity of the water passing through them.

Example 4: You have a private water supply (a well). Lead occurs naturally in the environment as well as coming from man-made sources plus, see ‘example 2′ above.

How can you test for lead in water?

Previously testing for lead in water required a complicated procedure but recent advancements in chemistry have made fast, accurate, and easy-to-use home tests such as Lead in Water Test possible.

This reliable test allows even non-technical people to obtain reliable test results in approximately 10 minutes!

For more information on this product, please visit www.sensafe.com or call Industrial Test Systems, Inc. at 800-861-9712 for more details.

Back in the day a lot of paint manufacturers pinched pennies by using ‘excessive’ quantities of lead in their paints. While this practice saved both the manufacturers and end users countless millions over the years, doctors and scientists have now linked exposure to lead-based paint products to elevated concentrations of lead in the blood of humans.

How did that much lead get into their bloodstream?

Example 1: Scientists and healthcare professionals speculate that some test subjects got their exposure to lead paint as children by playing with and/or eating paint chips found on the floor or on radiators and window sills.

Example 2: Scientists and healthcare professionals also speculate that others got their exposure to lead paint by working with lead-based paint products as adults.

In either case, ill effects of elevated lead levels manifested themselves in a number of test subjects so if you suspect lead paint on the walls and radiators of an old house, take a look at the Lead in Paint test.

It’s a fast, simple, and easy test which can help keep your friends and family safe from the potentially lethal effects of lead poisoning.

For more information on this product, please visit www.sensafe.com or call Industrial Test Systems, Inc. at 800-861-9712 for more details.

Sometimes even the soil around your house can contain lead. If water containing lead came in contact with your yard at some point, there exists a chance it left a dirty little deposit…

Example 1: Remember when they filled in your lawn with topsoil? Do you know for SURE where that topsoil came from? Did it come from a pristine yard untouched by pollution or did it come from a questionable little quarry on the outskirts of an industrial landfill?

Example 2: How about the runoff from up the street where they work with all sorts of metals and metal finishing products? Has it gone through the appropriate treatment systems before it reached the banks of the little stream where the kids like to play?

If you don’t know the answers to those or any other questions pertaining to whether or not your soil contains lead, take a look at this Lead in Soil test.

Simple, easy-to-use test which will help to keep your friends and family safe from the potentially lethal effects of lead poisoning.

For more information on this product, please visit www.sensafe.com or call Industrial Test Systems, Inc. at 800-861-9712 for more details.

In January of 2006 United States Environmental Protection Agency dropped the MCL (maximum contaminant level) for arsenic in drinking water down to 10 ppb for arsenic from 50 ppb.  By doing so, they caused many small and medium-ssized public water systems to become out of compliance.

In order to get back into compliance, the majority of these systems installed expensive, complex filtration systems (reverse osmosis, etc.) and passed the cost of the equipment upgrades along to their customers.  Smaller systems whose customer base could not afford such equipment upgrades sought financial assistance from the Federal Government.

• Read the Complete Arsenic Rules and Changes

• Get Help With Arsenic Rule & Rule Change Compliance

• Find Information on Funding Sources to Help With Compliance