We recently received an inquiry from 'L Green' who asked, "Interested in determining the presence and relative concentration of arsenic in PVC. Could use Atomic Absorption but since we are a manufacturing facility, would prefer a quick, easy test. Do you think your test for identification of arsenic in wood would work? Thanks!!"

Hello, and thank you for the inquiry.

We honestly do not know if Arsenic Quick Test Kits would work on PVC, but if it would work, we suspect that you would have to grind the sample into an extremely fine powder so that maximum surface area of the sample would come in contact with the water.

If you do decide to try the test, let us know what sort of results you get. We are definitely curious!

We just received an inquiry from 'Johnathan' who asked, "Do your test kits test for arsenic in wine and other drinkable liquids? Thanks!"

Hello, Jonathan. Funny you should ask because we actually just posted an article on one of our blogs this morning (or was it yesterday?) about arsenic in wine and whether or not the Arsenic Quick Test Kits could detect arsenic in wine samples.

• http://watertestingblog.com/2015/03/31/does-arsenic-quick-detect-arsenic-in-wine/

In short, though, we do not know if Arsenic Quick will work on wine samples because the wine sample may have a violent reaction when the test reagents get added and cause liquid or foam to get on the test pad suspended above the sample in the testing vessel... and invalidate the test results.

Additionally, if the arsenic is organically bound, the Arsenic Quick Test Kit cannot detect it. Thus far we have not seen a definitive statement regarding the nature of the arsenic detected in wines.

The manufacturer (Industrial Test Systems, Inc.) may have more information to share on the matter.

We recently received an email from 'Dean', an active duty soldier stationed overseas, who asked,

"Last summer we had a water reservoir incident where fuel contaminated water was used to refill our reservoir. The Embassy had a temporary solution setup in our driveway to our home (temp water tanks) until they could determine the replacement options of the underground reservoir. A few weeks ago they decided to tile the inside of the reservoir as the answer/fix and let us start using the reservoir again.

We haven't started using it yet, but I am afraid that simply tiling the inside of the underground tank may not have been the best option. What if, eventually, the fuel that seeped into the walls of the old underground (concrete) reservoir begins to seep through the grout of the tiles they used to line the tank? I'm not sure if you could ever get the fuel out of that old concrete tank.

It has me wondering if I should explore the option of testing my water periodically? Our house has a durastill distiller (inside the home) that boils and distills the water prior to our consumption but someone told me that distilling the water would remove any bacteria but would not remove any residue from the fuel. I don't know about these things but am curious as to what you may think? I don't want to find out in 10-20 years that I have developed cancer and then it's too late!

Are there any home test I can do or somewhere I could mail a water sample? I am scheduled to be over here for about 2 more years so a periodic test would be great. I'm not sure how often I should test it (every 3 or 6 months?) but I am interested.

I use the distilled water for cooking/drinking but I used the water from the reservoir to wash dishes, shower, and brush teeth and do not want to be contaminated that way. Any help/advice you could offer is appreciated. I know the Embassy says it will be fine, but they are people and people make mistakes. I just want to be safe and sure....I have my Family over here."

Thank you, Dean, for what has got to be the longest email inquiry we have received thus far!  We will attempt to answer your questions as best we can.

1) Regarding testing, no at-home water testing product we know of can detect trace amounts of gasoline or diesel fuel products, additives, etc. in drinking water. The water must get analyzed in a laboratory setting using expensive equipment. Usually we suggest people consider using the mail-in water testing services of a company like  National Testing Laboratories for such testing. Given that you are stationed overseas, however, we suspect that option may not work out for you.

2) As for whether or not distillation removes gasoline and diesel fuel components, we contacted a manufacturer of distillation units and learned the following:

• Components of gasoline and diesel fuel products fall into a category known as Volatile Organic Contaminants (VOC's)
• Distillation units may remove some of the contaminants associated with gasoline and diesel fuel, but since those contaminants typically have boiling points lower than water's boiling point, it stands to reason that they would vaporize and wind up in the distillate (water produced via distillation).
  
  NOTE: The manufacturer we contacted stated that some of the VOC's would exit through specially placed vents in their distillation apparatus, but they recommend using Activated Carbon Filters post-distillation to effectively get rid of VOC's.
• A wide range of VOC's may come out of fuel products and filter manufacturers suggest having a comprehensive test performed prior to purchasing a water filter because water sources heavily polluted with VOC's typically require custom tailored water treatment solutions.

The Water Test Kit Store (www.watertestkitstore.com) wants you to love Fridays as much as we do...

... so please enjoy saving 5% on your next water test kit purchase by using discount code FRIDAY5.

The quality of your drinking water, process water and/or pool water matters and can change without you knowing so it never hurts to... it never hurts to test the waters!

We recently received an inquiry from 'Uncle Al' who asked, "The strips we bought from your store say we have got a lot of combined chlorine in our pool which kinda' makes sense because the water stinks so bad like chemicals.  What kind of shock do we use to get the combined chlorine out?"

Normally we shy away from offering treatment advice, but since in this case we do have a bit of experience with the problem, we suggest one of the following approaches to your combined chlorine problem:

• Liquid chlorine (usually 1 gallon per 10,000 gallons)
• Powdered chlorine (non-stabilized, and usually about 1 pound per 10,000 gallons)
• Non-chlorine shock (usually about 1 pound per 10,000 gallons)

Our pool treatment knowledge comes from many years of working in the pool industry, but that happened a long time back so please, please, PLEASE read the label of any product you select and follow the manufacturer's directions.

Swimming Pool Start Up Kits Starting at $20 @ InTheSwim.Com

'Roger' asked, "Can you tell me if its possible to test for 'Combined Chlorines' when using a DPD powder test kit.   And what level of combined Chlorines should there be in a pool with 3-4 ppm Chlorine?"

To test for combined chlorine using a DPD method, you:

• Test a sample for free chlorine first using DPD-1
• Test the same sample for total chlorine using DPD-3
• Subtract the free chlorine reading from the total chlorine reading to get the amount of combined chlorine in the water sample

Regarding how much combined chlorine belongs in a swimming pool, ideally you would want NONE, but since we do not live in a perfect world, many pool water experts suggest shocking a swimming pool (with liquid chlorine, powdered chlorine, or a non-chlorine shock treatment) when combined chlorine levels exceed 0.2ppm.

Easiest DPD Testing Method

For the longest time, DPD only came in the form of tablets, powders, liquids, and prepackaged glass units that you had to break as part of the testing process.  Each form had definite drawbacks:

• Tablets need crushing before they can dissolve and in cold water or hard water samples the DPD may or may not dissolve completely.
• Powders must get carefully poured into samples and then mixed in so they can dissolve.  Not such an easy task when working on-site, outdoors when the wind blows.  Then the DPD may or may not dissolve completely depending on the temperature and hardness of the water sample.  Oh, and powdered reagents can easilt get into the air and possibly cause respiratory problems for some people.
• Liquid DPD reagents do not have the same problems dissolving in cold or hard samples, but they do introduce other messiness factors and they tend to have much short shelf lived than other forms of DPD.
• Regarding glass ampuoles, well...  GLASS.  Do we really have to say much more?  Plus user must break the glass tips off to dispense the DPD.

So what do we offer as a replacement for the above problematic DPD dispensing methods?

DPD ReagentStrips

No more tablets to crush, powders to spill, glass ampoules to break, or dispensers that can clog and release irritating dust. DPD-1 ReagentStrips contain all the necessary chemical reagents required to test for the presence of oxidizers in a water sample on a pad that instantaneously releases its contents when dipped into a 10 mL water sample.

Simply dip the strip into a 10ml water sample for 20 seconds with back and forth motion, remove, & discard the strip, and immediately read the test sample in your chlorine meter. ReagentStrip DPD-1 performs flawlessly with a wide range of existing meters from manufacturers such as Hach^®, LaMotte^®, Orion^®, WTW^®, etc.

Not interested in fooling around with DPD at all?  Then we suggest looking at the WaterWorks 2 Free & Total Chlorine water testing product which tests for both free and total chlorine at the same time, and using the same test strip.

We recently received an email from 'LeeAnne' who asked, "I need to know if any of your home water testing kits test for trihalomethanes. Please email me or call. Thanks."

Although we wish a kit like that existed, at this time we do not know of an at-home water test kit that detects trihalomethanes.  All of the detection methods we know about must take place in a laboratory setting using equipment that costs, well, a WHOLE lot more than an arm and a leg.

We do, however, know of several mail-in water test kits from National Testing Laboratories that detect trihalomethanes and host of other common drinking water contaminants and water quality characteristics.  Each kit comes with sample collection equipment, instructions on how best to collect your sample, and items necessary for the safe shipping of your sample to a National Testing Laboratories certified water testing facility.

What ARE trihalomethanes?

When drinking water sources get processed and made potable, some of the processes involved may use free chlorine as the disinfectant.  When chlorine molecules interact with biological contaminants in the water a class of compounds known as disinfection byproducts get created in small quantities.

Scientists and health experts currently believe that exposure to elevated levels of disinfection byproducts in drinking water over time increases a person's risk of developing certain types of cancer.

Trihalomethanes are classified as disinfection byproducts.

Today's question came to us from 'Brenda', who asked, "I want an analysis of the leaking liquid content from the roof.  Will the bacteria test work for that sort of leak test?"

Hello, Brenda, and thank you for your inquiry.  For those unfamiliar with the test Brenda has asked about, you can learn about the EZ Coliform Cult (MUG) Test in our Water Test Kit Store.

I would suppose that you are looking to determine if the leak comes from a toilet, then? In that case, the test kit could get used to detect coliform bacteria in the water coming through the ceiling, but keep in mind that the test kit has a low detection threshold of just ONE coliform unit per 100 mL sample... and quite easily the sample could possibly acquire that on its way through the flooring and ceiling since those are not necessarily sterile environments.

Industrial Test Systems, Inc. (www.sensafe.com) manufactures a test kit that has a detection threshold of, I believe, 1,000 cfu/mL. In the case of a suspected toilet water leak, that test kit should test 'negative' if the water came came from a source pre-toilet and 'positive' if it came from a post-toilet (i.e. flushed water) source.

Since we're talking about water 'leaks'...

If any of you out there have a slow dripping faucet, a toilet that 'runs' long after it should have stopped, or any other manner of water flow that is unintended, please take care of the problem right away.  Doing so will benefit you in several ways!

• Fixing leaks directly reduces how much water you consume and therefore lowers your water bill.
• Fixing leaks directly reduces the amount of sewage you get charged for by your local sewer and water authority.
• Fixing leaks gets rid of that annoying dripping sound that sometimes keeps you up at night.
• Fixing leaks leaves more portable water in the general water supply and if everyone fixes their leaks we will all have a clean, potable water supply longer.

We recently received a question about copper plumbing having a greenish tint from 'Sue', who asked...

"Hi....I am so confused as to which test to order. We have copper piping that has developed leaks due to tiny pin holes in the piping. Our PH is excellent but do not know what is causing the greenish color inside the pipes. Our plumber, about whom you can have a peek here, recommended we do a test on the water but since the water has normal acidity we do not know what to do now. Please help. Thanks so much. I am clueless and hoping you can point me in the right direction as to what we need to test for now!"

Hello, Sue, and thank you for your inquiry.  We suspect the greenish color you see comes from oxidation of the copper on its surface and the fact that you see it on the inside of the pipes indicates that your pipes most likely spent some time with air in them.  Perhaps the leaks in the pipes allowed oxygen into the system or maybe the system spent some time in a drained condition?

As for what caused the pinholes in the first place, pH would normally top the list as likely offender. Aside from that, you may want to take a look at alkalinity which affects the stability of the pH. If you have low alkalinity your water may have a great pH today and an absolutely horrible pH tomorrow.

Also, how old is the plumbing in question?  Perhaps just the age of the system has given it time to develop pinhole leaks?

Easy Way to Test for pH & Alkalinity

We currently carry a product called the WaterWorks pH & Alkalinity which performs a test for both pH and total alkalinity at the same time.

The WaterWorks pH & Total Alkalinity test strip utilizes a single test strip designed with two separate test pads: one for measuring pH and the other for measuring Total Alkalinity. The test procedure works well as an alternative to traditional wet chemical tests that sometimes require the use of potentially hazardous chemicals.

• pH: 6.0, 6.5, 7.0, 7.5, 8.0, 8.5, 9.0
• Total Alkalinity: 0, 80, 120, 180, 240, 360 ppm (mg/L)

Today's inquiry came to us from 'Kyle' who asked, "We had a new well put in because our old well dried up and we were told could not be made deeper.  Water from our new well tastes metally like iron but the test strips we got from a friend in the pool business tell us there is no iron.  Would you iron test work better maybe?"

Hello, Kyle, and thank you for your inquiry.  You raised a few interesting points and asked a few interesting questions... to which we have several (hopefully helpful) responses:

• General Metals Testing Approach -- This approach will give you a 30,000-ft view of your metal problem since several different metals may resemble the 'taste of iron' when dissolved in drinking water.  We suggest using a general metals testing product such as the SenSafe Heavy Metals Check which detects a broad spectrum of dissolved heavy metals and gives a total concentration of all the metals it detects (Note: The product will not identify individual metals or tell you how much of each metal it detected in a water sample).
• Focusing on Iron -- If you feel certain you have iron in your water, then the WaterWorks Visual Iron Test Kit may work well for you.  It differs from most iron tests in that it detects 'total iron' by converting Fe+3 iron to Fe+2 so the test reagent can detect it.  Most pool test kits we have seen, unless you get into troubleshooting versions, will only detect Fe+2.  Please note, however, that if your water does not contain iron at all (in either form), this test will also show blank results.
• Thorough (Laboratory) Well Water Analysis -- As a general rule, we believe newly dug wells should get tested for a full battery of tests before getting put into use.  Companies like National Testing Laboratories offer a number of mail-in water testing packages and typically provide results in about a week to ten days. Before running off and ordering the most expensive test package possible, though, you may want to contact your local Department of the Environment and ask them what sort of well water contaminants or issues they know of in your area... and choose a testing package based on the information they provide.

Once you get your iron in water and/or metals in water problem resolved, please keep one thing in mind: Many contaminants in well water -- some of them harmful -- have no associated taste, appearance or odor.

Only periodic testing of the water will let you know if a water quality aspect of your well water has changed.

Lead in Water Test

Water Metals Test Strips

Total Iron Visual Test Kit