Thank you for your inquiry, Bekki, and we hope you and everyone else potentially in Hurricane Irma’s way the best of luck and safe travels.

Should you drain your pool before the storm? No. You should NOT drain your pool. Although if you happen to have a steel outdoor bench lying around, it’d do you good to preserve that inside before a hurricane.

• If you have a concrete, plaster or fiberglass pool draining the pool will significantly reduce the pool’s weight and once the ground becomes saturated, as typically happens during hurricanes and continued torrential downpours, the pool could ‘float’ vertically out of the ground.
   
• If you vinyl liner pool draining the pool will significantly reduce the amount of water weight in the pool and once the ground becomes saturated, as typically happens during hurricanes and continued torrential downpours, not having enough down force pushing down on the pliable liner will allow water to push upward creating pockets or blisters on the pool’s bottom and/or walls.
   
• Draining pool water too far and allowing normally submerged surfaces to get exposed to the air may result in vinyl becoming brittle and other surfaces cracking or suffering other forms of damage — especially if exposed for periods of time greater than one would need to perform normal repairs or maintenance work.

In addition to the above, pool owners should also strongly consider:

• Turn of the power to the pool area (including pumps, motors, lighting, etc.) from the circuit breaker.
   
• Remove and safely store diving boards, slides and other exposed swimming pool hardware if possible.
   
• If you have a gas heater on your pool, safely disconnect the gas line from the heater and see if you can have your gas company discontinue service until the storm passes.
   
• Relocate or seal as best you can pool pumps and motors if flood waters could possibly reach them.
   
• Store all patio and pool furniture indoors.
   
• “Shock” your pool before leaving to discourage algae growth and deter insects from turning your pool into a breeding ground.

Believe it or not, we have heard this question quite a few times in recent years. It generally costs less to purchase water test strips by the case or in bulk so a person wanting to extend the shelf-life of their inventory of testing supplies makes total sense… except for one small problem: Manufacturers use the stated shelf-life of products as the ‘last date at which they will guarantee product performance’ and no storage method will cause them to extend that date (for legal reasons).

For emphasis’ sake, as stated, no manufacturer we know of will guarantee longer shelf-lives of their products beyond stated dates regardless of storage conditions, but having worked with test strips for as long as we have, we have found that most of the products we tested worked as expected past expiration dates as long as we stored products using the following guidelines:

• Keep all unused bottles sealed tightly. Keeping environmental moisture (humidity) away from the test strips helps to prevent premature decomposition of some chemical reagents.
• Make sure storage conditions remain dry (i.e. no water and low humidity) at all times. It would SURPRISE you how many people do NOT keep their testing products out of potentially wet environments.
• Do not store products in direct sunlight. Heat and UV rays accelerate the decomposition and/or degradation of chemical reagents.
• Keep temperatures in the range specified by manufacturers. We suggest keeping products at the lower end of the temperature range. Do NOT allow storage temperatures to fall below freezing as this could also result in the degradation of chemical reagents.
• And finally, if you have the ability, run controlled experiments pitting known good (in date) strips against technically expired strips to see how the results from each compare.

Again, the expiration date on a package of test strips represents the absolute last day that the product’s manufacturer will guarantee the product’s performance. Example: Exp 8/2020 means the product is guaranteed to perform as expected until the last day in August of 2020.

As far as refrigerating test strips to lengthen shelf-life, no manufacturer we know of would go on record as suggesting that… and we suspect that not all test reagents would take kindly to colder temperatures and/or have their shelf life made longer by colder temperatures.

• First of all, repair any and all visible leaks right away. Even the smallest leak point can result in large amounts of water leaving a pool… and depending upon the location of the leak that runaway water could potentially erode the ground under your pool causing all sorts of other problems.
• Should your pool pump’s operating pressure rise by about 10 psi (pounds per square inch), clean the filters elements (fingers, cartridges, etc.) or backwash the system. Take care NOT to allow wash water or backwash water to run into a storm water drain, stream or other natural body of water.
• Warmer water will evaporate faster than cooler water so keeping your pool water temperature around 78 degrees Fahrenheit will make it pleasant to cool off in and less likely to evaporate.
• Increased wind over a pool’s surface also increases the evaporation rate so if possible, plant trees and shrubs around the pool to protect it from blowing winds. Just make certain not to plant anything that drops leaves, berries or other things that would wind up in the pool.
• Use of a solar cover to insulate the water in the evenings will help to reduce evaporation. Worried that you can’t get the cover on and off? Solar cover reels install easily on most pools and make moving solar covers easy enough for one person to do the job.
• This last one takes the heart of a lion, we admit: Discourage excess splashing of water out of the pool… if possible. Kids WILL be kids and cannonballs ARE fun (even for us adults!) but if conserving water is the goal, cutting back on the cannonballs will have to happen. 🙂

In short, swimming pools offer a wealth of fun in the sun (and after dark if the temperature stays right!) and keeping them running right and doing our best to reduce water loss comes as part of the package. Another part of the package involves safe, responsible use and disposal of the chemicals used to keep pools operating safely and cleanly. Have FUN in the pool, definitely, but try to keep the water and chemicals where they belong: In the pool.

Without getting too detailed, it means the folks living in the affected areas should observe the following precautions until the boil water advisories get lifted (or canceled):

• Boil water for one minute prior to drinking or food preparation, or use bottled water.
   
• Dispose of ice cubes and do not use ice from a household automatic icemaker until authorities give the all clear notification and you have purged your home’s water lines and the water line leading to the icemaker.
   
• Disinfect dishes and other food contact surfaces by immersion for at least one minute in clean (boiled) tap water or bottled water that contains one teaspoon of unscented household bleach per gallon of water. Note: The more ‘gunk’ a surface has on it, the quicker the bleach level in your wash water will diminish.
   
• Water used for bathing typically does not need to get boiled prior to use however during showering and bathing one should take care not to ingest water. Children should have supervision to discourage accidental ingesting of bath/shower water and persons with cuts, severe rashes or other afflictions of the skin should consult their physician prior to bathing, as unwanted bacteria in the water could possibly enter their body through those areas.
   
• If tap water appears dirty, flush the water lines by letting the water run until it clears before using the water. After the all clear notification goes out you should run water from all available taps, faucets and spigots for a few minutes to purge your home’s water system of older, possibly contaminated water.

What Triggers Boil Water Advisories?

Municipal water systems have a slight amount of pressure in them that forces water out through any available openings in the systems. Usually those openings consist of faucets, drinking fountains, spigots, etc. Water systems do not exist in a stress-free vacuum, though, so over time small cracks, leaks and fissures may form in pipes… and as long as the system remains pressurized no outside matter can typically infiltrate the systems.

But, when a water main breaks or some other event causes a pressure drop to occur in the system, the lack of pressure in the system could allow foreign matter such as bacteria, parasites and/or unwanted debris to slip into the system through those cracks and/or fissures in pipes.

When that happens, water companies will issue boil water advisories through local media outlets. Once water pressure gets restored and tests come back negative for system contamination, water companies will cancel the boil water advisories.

Thank you, Robert, for the inquiry. At this time we carry two kits that contain MOST of the items in your list. See below for details:

COMPLETE Water Quality Test Kit includes tests for:

• Iron: 0.0, 0.05, 0.1, 0.3, 1.0 ppm (mg/L) – 2 tests
• Copper: 0, 0.1, 0.5, 1.0, 2.0 ppm (mg/L) – 2 tests
• Chloride: 0, 250, 500 ppm (mg/L) – 2 tests
• Nitrate: 0, 2.0, 10, 20, 50, ppm (mg/L) (as N) – 2 tests
• Nitrite: 0, 0.2, 1.0, 1.5, 3.0 ppm (mg/L) (as N) – 2 tests
• pH: 2.0, 4.0, 5.0, 6.5, 8.5, 9.5, 10.5, 12 – 2 tests
• Total Alkalinity: 0, 80, 120, 180, 240, 500 ppm (mg/L) – 2 tests
• Total Chlorine: 0, 0.2, 1, 4, 10 ppm (mg/L) – 2 tests
• Total Hardness: 0, 50, 120, 250, 425, 1000 ppm (mg/L) – 2 tests
• Free Chlorine: 0, 0.5, 0.2, 0.6, 1.5, 4.0, 10 ppm (mg/L) – 2 tests
• Sulfate: 0, 250, >500 – 2 tests
• Hydrogen Sulfide: 0, 0.2, 2.0 ppm (mg/L) – 2 tests
• Bacteria: presence / absence media for total coliforms 1 test

The Water Quality Test Kit includes tests for:

• 2 tests for Alkalinity, Total
• 1 test for Bacteria, Coliform in Water
• 2 tests for Chloride
• 2 tests for Chlorine, Free
• 2 tests for Chlorine, Total
• 2 tests for Copper, Total
• 2 tests for Hardness, Total
• 2 tests for Hydrogen Sulfide
• 2 tests for Iron
• 1 test for Lead
• 2 tests for Nitrate/Nitrite, as Nitrogen
• 1 test for Pesticides (Atrazine & Simazine)
• 2 tests for ph
• 2 tests for Sulfate

Neither kit includes a tests for Manganese, though.

Got larger or more frequent testing needs?

If you need to test more than one or two water sources for a range of water quality parameters, you may want to consider either the Well Driller Standard Test Kit or Well Driller Master Test Kit.

This free water test kit offer comes to you courtesy of the Michigan Department of Agriculture and Rural Development through the Michigan Agriculture Environmental Assurance Program with the Allegan Conservation District.

Why test for nitrates?

While not considered a substantial health risk in lower quantities and concentrations, as they occur naturally in many foods and get used to preserve and cure meat products, but concentrations in excess of 10 mg/L (1 mg/L = 1 part per million) in drinking water pose a health risk to young children under the age of 6 months old, expecting mothers, nursing mothers, and the elderly.

Why 10 mg/L?

The United States Environmental Protection Agency set the ‘action’ limit for nitrates in drinking water at 10 mg/L, meaning a public water system would need to immediately take steps to reduce nitrate concentrations in the water

Due to most water well contamination by nitrates and nitrites coming from surface runoff, shallow wells therefore stand the greatest chance of having higher than acceptable levels of nitrates and nitrites. Health officials and well water professionals typically suggest that all drinking water obtained from wells get tested annually for — at the very least — nitrates, nitrites, and coliform bacteria.

Also, if you just had a new well installed, or work done on your existing water well, you should have the water tested prior to using water from the well for drinking or cooking purposes.

For more information on the free water testing offer in Allegan County, Michigan, you can visit their web site www.allegancd.org or you can contact Ana at at 269-673-6940, ext. 5.

Source http://www.mlive.com/wayland/index.ssf/2016/04/free_water_testing_will_be_off.html

So, to celebrate this annual event we would like to offer everyone 10% OFF at either one of our online water test kit stores. Enter discount code MARCHMADNESS at checkout to steal this deal and knock down a game-winning, money-saving 3 point shot!

• Water Test Kit Store – MARCHMADNESS code valid through end of April!

Editor’s Note – We sincerely apologize for that HORRIBLE sports reference back there. The discount code MARCHMADNESS will remain active until the end of the month 🙂

If simply drained into the streets the water winds up in storm drains which lead sometimes lead to local waterways where the chlorine could cause serious harm to aquatic life.

Draining pool water into sanitary sewer systems — the same ones that handle waste water and toilet water — could cause those systems to get backed up since many do not have the ability to handle large volumes of water.

So… How should I dispose of pool water?

From what we have read, environmental experts and department of public works employees suggest allowing the pool water’s chlorine level to dissipate as much as possible before releasing water into the environment or storm water systems. Make sure to keep the pool water circulating with the pool’s pump/filter during the dissipation process since doing so should aid in making the chlorine dissipation process go a little faster.

How will I know when the chlorine level drops close to zero?

Simple dip-and-read test strips for TOTAL chlorine, not free chlorine, work well and your basic 5-drop OTO pool water test kits work well, too.