In reponse to recent emails, we will re-visit the topic of free chlorine versus combined chlorine and how they both relate to total chlorine:
(Free Chlorine) + (Combined Chlorine) = (Total Chlorine)
Free Chlorine: Typically your main sanitizing/disinfecting agent and sometimes referred to as ‘available chlorine’. In most cases people try to keep a free chlorine residual in their water to act as a buffer against biological contaminants. Chemically speaking this is the amount of hypochlorous acid and hypochlorite ion in solution. find free chlorine test strips
Combined Chlorine: The resulting compound when free chlorine molecules interact with biological contaminants containing Nitrogen which most people refer to as ‘chloramines’. You could also refer to combined chlorine as ‘used free chlorine’, but keep in mind that it still does have the abiity to act as a sanitizer/disinfectant… just not nearly as effectively. find total chlorine test strips
Total Chlorine: The sum of all free, ‘available’, combined, and ‘used’ chlorine in solution. find total chlorine test strips
Testing for Free & Total Chlorine at the Same Time?
The traditional testing method for chlorine residuals in water involves the use of a reagent system known as DPD that involves two separate chemical mixing procedures.
The WaterWorks 2 Free & Total Chlorine Test Strips have a total test time of around 30 seconds and detect both free and total concentrations in water in the following range: 0, 0.1, 0.2, 0.5, 1, 1.0, 2.5, 5.0 ppm.
If you need to test chlorine levels in your water, then we definitely suggest checking out the chlorine testing convenience and affordability of WaterWorks 2 Free & Total Chlorine Test Strips.
