While the average person does not have a need to for chlorine levels much above 3 to 5 parts per million, and even then they would typically only need to do so to make sure their swimming pools had a sufficient amount of free chlorine, but other folks have the need to test for free chlorine levels in excess of 25 or 50 parts per million on a regular basis. Below we will list a few of the places where you might expect to see a need for high range free chlorine testing.

Fruit & Vegetable Processing

After fresh produce leaves the fields it travels to a processing facility where it typically gets washed with a solution containing some sort of sanitizer such as chlorine, ozone, etc. In cases where the produce processing plant uses chlorine employees must make sure the rinse water contains a certain amount of free chlorine after it has passed over the fruit/vegetables.

Levels of free chlorine drop with an increase in biological load (contamination) and the rinse water having free chlorine left after use indicates that the produce no longer contains biological contamination on its surfaces.

Childcare Facilities

State laws require that childcare facilities clean their surfaces with properly mixed sanitizing and disinfecting solutions that contain an appropriate concentration of sanitizing or disinfecting chemicals. In many cases these facilities use chlorine bleach solutions for cleaning purposes.

As a general rule these solutions must contain anywhere from 50 to 200 parts per million free chlorine for sanitizing solutions and anywhere from 500 to 800 parts per million free chlorine for disinfecting solutions. In case like this the Waterworks High Range Free Chlorine Test Strips will not work because they have an upper detection limit of only 120 parts per million free chlorine, but WaterWorks Free Chlorine Check Ultra High II has an upper detection limit of 2,000 parts per million free chlorine and works well in this application.

Some states leave it up to individual childcare facilities to determine testing frequency of sanitizing and disinfecting solutions while other states, like North Carolina for example, have strict laws dictating how often childcare facilities must perform testing.

As of January 1, 2006, all licensed, non-in-home daycare centers in the State of North Carolina had to have the ability to test the chlorine bleach content in both their sanitizing and their disinfecting solutions. Previously the law stated that they had to test only the chlorine concentration in their sanitizing solutions. ( source )

If interested in purchasing a test kit for testing sanitizing & disinfecting solutions in a childcare facility, you can find them readily available on the Filters Fast web site.

Water Lines and Water Mains

Before a water line can go into service for the first time or go back into service after a breakage or leak has gotten repaired technicians must flush (burn) the lines with water containing a high concentration of free chlorine to clean out any and biological contaminants. Typically the technicians must test the discharge water periodically until the free chlorine level remains constant at a high level for a set amount of time.

Waterworks High Range Free Chlorine Test Strips work very well for this application.

Product-specific information about Waterworks High Range Free Chlorine Test Strips:

• Testing requires just 32 seconds
• Each bottle contains 50 ready-to-use tests
• Color chart has easily distinguished color blocks at 1, 5, 10, 20, 40, 80, 120 ppm
• No harmful chemicals or reagents to handle

Looking for a way to lower the amount of free chlorine and chloramines in the water you use in the garden… but don’t want the hassle of installing a complicated water filter?

If so, then we suggest you consider the Green Knight Hydroponic Dechlorinating Filter.

Functioning as an easily installed inline filter, the Green Knight screws right onto the average 3/4″ garden hose and promotes healthy plant growth by effectively reducing and/or removing potentially harmful chlorine from the water and also contains quartz crystals which aid plants’ absorption of vital nutrients.

Rainshow’r Green Knight uses a polyester pre-filter to catch sediment and then allows water to pass through 2 pounds of specially blended KDF55, 2 ounces of quartz crystal, and a final polishing stage which contains KDF73 filament media.

This product also comes with a sturdy 3-foot vinyl hose so that people can reap the benefits of the chlorine filter near the spigot/faucet w/o having to wrestle with a full-length garden hose. This works out well for rinsing off metal tools, washing mud off of dogs, etc.

Oh, and we learned something new while researching this product: People have found that reducing chlorine levels in rinse and wash water can greatly extend the life and luster of organic carnuba wax jobs on cars, boats, RV’s, etc.

Specific product details of the Rainshow’r Green Knight:

• Testing has shown that the unit removes 85% – 90% of Free Available Chlorine (FAC)
• Testing has shown that the unit also reduces chloramine concentrations by 65% – 75%
• Life expectancy: 30,000 gallons of source water assuming ‘average’ chlorine concentrations
• Suggested flow rate: Approximately 2 ppm
• Temperature rating: From 40F up to 110F
• Maximum pressure rating: 100 psi
• Freezing will cause irreparable damage to the unit, as will not running water through the unit at least twice a month after its first use.

Will the Rainshow’r Green Knight work as a drinking water filter?

Rainshow’r, the manufacturer of Green Knight Hydroponic Dechlorinating Filter designed this product for use in the garden and for outdoor applications, not for use a device to make water potable.

It lacks sufficient filter media capable of removing particulate matter and other contaminants such as organic chemicals, heavy metals (lead, iron, copper, mercury, etc.) and bacteria from source water.

The other day we received a question from a reader in California who asked a question about free and total chlorine readings in what she called the ‘high range’.

I work at the front desk of a company that works on water lines and the guys are always complaining about ‘powder pillers’ and so today I finally asked what a ‘powder piller’ was. I learned two things today. One never ask a cranky engineer a question unless you know what your asking cuz they’re called POWDER PILLOWS and two the guys use them to test chlorine and they are a real pain to work with on a job. Do you have something else the guys can use cuz they REALLY don’t like those things nad they don’t test very high either it seems. Thanks for helping. MandyMandy113

A very interesting question, indeed, Mandy, and definitely one many people besides yourself probably would like to have answered — especially that cranky ‘ole engineer! He probably has spent years testing for free chlorine residual in water mains using DPD-Based test kits that require users to tear open a tiny foil packet and pour a pre-measured amount of reagent powder into a small test tube or vial.

Believe it or not, opening those small foil packets, often referred to as powder pillows, and pouring their contents into tiny openings using dirty, wet hands in cold, windy conditions really DOES take a lot of concentration and effort. Who knew, right?

So anyways, Mandy, other options do exist and they have a few bonuses they your co-workers, even the cranky ‘ole engineer, might appreciate. One option in particular even has approval by the EPA for use when testing the free chlorine residual in drinking water! See how he likes THEM apples. We think he will.

The SenSafe Free Chlorine Water Check test kit for free chlorine residuals in drinking water detects free chlorine residuals as low as 0.05 parts per million in a matter of seconds and requires the user to do nothing more than dip the strip into a sample, wait a few seconds, and compare the color on the test pad to a color chart.

Now before you say, “Oh great… a test strip…” let us remind you that the USEPA has thoroughly evaluated the SenSafe Free Chlorine Water Check test strips and found them more than adequate for testing free chlorine levels in municipal water supplies.

In the past test strips had color charts with hard to read colors, but this products stands as testament to the fact that times have changed and test strip technology has progressed quite far. See for yourself.

Many people (like several of the people here at Water Testing Blog) have difficulty telling the difference between different shades of colors with red in them so the fact that Free Chlorine Water Check uses a reagent that turns different shades of blue can really make a difference in how accurately a tester can interpret test results.

Testing higher levels of free chlorine

Since Mandy’s co-workers work on water lines, they most likely need to test for higher levels of chlorine (between 20 and 50 ppm) when flushing a new line or putting a repaired water line back in service. For testing like that they probably had to dilute samples 4 or 5 to 1 so they could get readable results with their dpd-based test kits. Not a fun task, especially since they would need to carry a supply of chlorine-free water with them to dilute their test samples.

As an alternative to diluting and testing with dpd reagents, SenSafe created a dip-n-read test strip that uses the same reagent as Free Chlorine Water Check, but has the ability to accurately detect up to 120 parts per million free chlorine w/ no monochloramine interference: WaterWorks Free Chlorine High Range.

For years people have wisely invested money in shower filters designed to improve the quality of their shower water by removing chlorine, but what about those times when a person wants to kick back and relax in the tub by taking a hot bath? Shower water filters remove chlorine from only the water that comes out of the shower…

Good thing companies like Rainshow’r developed products such as the Bath 3000: Crystal Ball Bath Dechlorinator, an easy-to-use device capable of removing the chlorine from as many as 200 tubs of bath water.

Rainshow’r claims its product, the Crystal Ball Bath Dechlorinator removes up to 100% of free chlorine from your bath water in minutes.

Medical professionals and cosmetologists have often stated that removing chlorine from the water we bathe in/with will result in healthier, softer, and better looking skin.

For those not sold on the idea of removing chlorine from bath water, yet, please think about the following: Shower water containing chlorine hits your skin in spurts while bath water containing chlorine makes constant and continual contact with your skin for the duration of your bath.

Benefits of using a bath water dechlorinator include better lathering and suds’ing of soaps and shampoos, relief from dry skin, and removal of a known poison from the water. Also, with the Crystal Ball Bath Dechlorinator you will not need to mess around with plumbing fixtures, connect or disconnect any pipes, handle any toxic chemicals, or worry about changing out filters.

How does the Crystal Ball Bath Dechlorinator work? Quite simply, it converts chlorine ions to harmless chloride. Using a proprietary blend of KDF media safely locked away inside the Crystal Ball Bath Dechlorinator, it gets rid of the toxic effects of chlorine, chloramine, and chlorine gas sometimes found in bath water in a matter of minutes.

How long will the Crystal Ball Bath Dechlorinator last? That obviously depends on the amount of chlorine in your bath water to begin with and how often you take a bath, but Rainshow’r estimates that users will have to purchase a new Bath Ball approximately once a year or every 200 baths — whichever comes first.

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Obviously removing chlorine from just bath or shower water will not suffice if you want to eliminate the risk of potential harm it can cause. Having said that, the first step to take involves testing for chlorine in your water supply. Use of a simple do-it-yourself chlorine test strip will give you a good idea of how much chlorine your water contains in a matter of seconds.

Once you know how much chlorine you have to remove, then you can set about selecting the correct shower water filter, countertop water filter, refrigerator water filter system or whole house water filter system.

We recently learned that the maker of SenSafe Water Test Kits has released a new version of the eXact Micro Meter Water Testing Kit that makes accurate chlorine testing with DPD-based chemistry easy for experienced testers and novices alike.

Introducing, for all your chlorine testing needs, the eXact Chlorine Photometer… a digital meter for testing chlorine that has a detection range of 0 to 11 parts per million for both free and total chlorine without the need for drop counting, crushing tablets or dissolving powders.

Using the same hardware platform as the eXact Micro 7+ Meter, this new kit comes with 100 tests for free chlorine (using DPD-1) and 100 tests for total chlorine (using DPD-4)

Aside from the 0.01 ppm resolution with +/- 0.02 ppm accuracy between 0.00 and 2.39 ppm chlorine and its high detection limit of 11 parts per million, the eXact Chlorine Photometer also offers a great deal of versatility for those who may want to test for other water quality parameters such as… Ammonia, Bromine, Chloride/Salt, Chlorine Dioxide, Chromium (in Hexavalent Form), Copper, Cyanuric Acid, Fluoride, Iodine, Iron, Low Range Total Hardness, Manganese, Nitrate, Nitrite, Ozone, Acid pH, Alkali pH, Potassium, Sulfate, Sulfide, and Turbidity.

If the need arises where you need, or want, to test for parameters other than free and total chlorine, simply pick up a bottle of the appropriate reagentstrip and follow the simple instructions in your meter’s manual.

Ah, yes… a question about a swimming pool not holding its chlorine residual came in recently and we must say that it took longer this year than usual.

Hi – We just got a pool put in (a 24′ round) and it does not hold any chlorine. We pour a gallon in at a time and test the next day and we have almost no chlorine showing up and also our water stays cloudy. What are we doing wrong? Thanks. Annie.

Well, Annie, we will start with the type of chlorine you most likely have: liquid. Sodium hypochlorite works very well as a chlorinating agent, disperses into pool water seamlessly, and has a relatively low cost (usually around $2 per gallon if bought in 5 gallon jugs).

Aside from liquid chlorine’s tendency to bleach any clothing it touches and weigh a lot in those bulky 5 gallon containers, liquid chlorine also lacks any kind of stabilizing compound in its chemical makeup. Without a stabilizer such as cyanuric acid, the chlorine added to a pool via liquid chlorine can readily exit the pool for a number of reasons (i.e direct sunlight, warm water temperatures, etc.)

If you have not already added pool stabilizer (cyanuric acid), you may want to do so pretty soon. We do, of course, suggest you test your pool for cyanuric acid before adding any chemicals… in case some other, more insidious reason exists for your pool not holding a chlorine level.

Unsure as to how you can test pool water for cyanuric acid? You can take water to your local pool store, use a liquid test kit or use something like the 6 Way Pool Check test strip.

Other Chlorine Eaters

By any chance do you have a fair amount of leaves, tree branches, dead animals, dead neighbors, or other debris in the water? If so, the chlorine will act like a human and choose the easiest (biggest) target to attack rather than go after smaller, harder to attack targets. Get the debris out right away.

Don’t Skimp on the Filtration/Circulation

The cloudy water in your pool may come from poor water circulation and/or filtration as well as the low chlorine level you initially inquired about. Until you clear up the water, try running the filter 24 hours a day if you do not already do that.

If after running the filter a full day you do not see an increase in pump pressure on the gauge attached to the filter and/or the strength of the jets pushing water back into the pool has not diminished, you may have filter problems. Now on the other hand, if you DO see increased pressure and diminished return jet strength, backwash the filter and it will begin collecting more junk from your water at a faster rate.

Simplified List of Steps for Annie to Take

Granted we cannot possibly address Annie’s problems completely since we do not know all of the factors affecting her water condition, but the we have personally used slight variations of this advice to help quite a few people clear up their pool water.

• Remove large debris from pool, if present… especially any dead bodies.

• Test stabilizer level and adjust if needed by adding cyanuric acid per the instructions given by the chemical’s manufacturer.

• Test other critical water parameters such as pH, Alkalinity, Copper, Iron, Hardness, etc. and make corrections as needed — per instruction(s), of course.

• Add more liquid chlorine… roughly 1 gallon per 10,000 gallons of pool water.

• Run filter 24 hours a day until problem clears up.

• Backwash filter when necessary to improve filtration and water circulation.

Never hesitate to go in and pester your local pool store employees for pointers, free water testing and advice. They relish the opportunity to snicker behind your back because they cannot believe you cannot figure out what pool chemicals you need… but try not to let that deter you because they know a lot about how to properly maintain pools and generally give good advice!

This multi-stage (six) inline filter does a lot more than just remove arsenic from water at a rate of up to 1 gallon per minute, a rate perfect for use with water fountains, bottleless water coolers, commercial coffeemakers, and ice machines. It uses all six of its filtration layers to effectively remove a number of drinking water contaminants.

• In stages 1 and 6 water flows through pre and post one – micron filters capable of removing suspended particles such as silt, sediment, cyst (Giardia, Cryptosporidium), sand, rust, dirt, and other types of unwanted matter.

• In stage 2 water flows through a specially engineered arsenic removal/reduction media.

• In stages 3 and 4 water flows through a media bed comprised of high purity KDF-55D ®, and KDF-85D ®, which operate using electrochemical and spontaneous oxidation/reduction (REDOX) principles. The combination of these two special media completely oxidizes any chlorine in the water.

  As an added bonus, heavy metals such as lead, mercury, copper, nickel, chromium, cadmium, aluminum, and other dissolved metals also get removed/reduced during this stage of filtration.

  While some KDF media beds can harbor unwanted bacteria, studies have shown that this particular unit reduces the likelihood of bacteria growth by as much as 90%, thus eliminating the need for silver, an element considered by some to pose health risks.

  Worried about the possible addition of copper or zinc to the water in any significant amount? On a sample of water containing 2.3 ppm chlorinated water, testing after filtration detected <0.05 mg/l copper and only 0.46 mg/l zinc. The EPA has set the aesthetic levels for copper at 1.0 mg/l and 5.0 mg/l for zinc. Additionally, the human body requires both zinc and copper for good health. The FDA recommends a daily intake of 15 mg of zinc and 2 mg of copper.

• In the fifth stage of filtration, water flows through granulated activated carbon (GAC) which adsorbs a wide variety of organic contaminants, such as any remaining chlorine (99.9%), chemicals linked to cancer such as Trihalomethanes and benzene, pesticides, herbicides, insecticides, volatile organic compounds (VOC’s), PCB’s, MTBE’s and a laundry list of other chemical contaminants that may exist in your source (i.e. tap or well) water.

What about replacement filters? Will I have difficulty finding them? Highly unlikely! The manufacturer of this inline arsenic filter, Crystal Quest has existed in one form or another in the commercial water purification industry for more than thirty years.

You can order replacement filters for the inline arsenic filter on FilterWater.Com, a leading online vendor of water quality improvement products from Crystal Quest and other manufacturers.

If we had a nickel for every single time someone asked us what NSF 42, 44, 53, 55, 58, 62 and 177 meant… we’d have a huge pile of nickels and STILL not have enough money for that diamond-plated, gold-encrusted, platinum embossed drinking fountain w/ the GIANT water purification FACTORY attached to it from the other side of the wall.

NSF/ANSI Standard 42: Drinking water filtration systems that are certified to this standard remove chlorine and sediment/particles from water for the purpose of improving its look, smell and taste. The design of these filter do NOT lend themselves to the removal or reduction of health-related contaminants.

NSF/ANSI Standard 44: Water treatment systems certified to this standard typically function as cation exchange water softeners designed to reduce or eliminate water hardness (i.e. calcium and/or magnesium). Water filters designed to remove barium and radium may also certify to this standard.

NSF/ANSI Standard 53: Water purifiers certifying to this standard have designs that remove health-related contaminants such as waterborne organisms and industrial chemicals. Cryptosporidium, giardia, volatile organic chemicals (VOCs), MTBE (methyl tertiary-butyl ether) and trihalomethane compounds (THMs) fit into one of those categories or the other.

NSF/ANSI Standard 55: Devices rated to this standard function as point of use (POU) or point of entry (POE) ultraviolet microbiological water treatment systems. These water treatment systems feature designs which disinfect microorganisms (such as bacteria and viruses) potentially present in water.

NSF/ANSI Standard 58: Typically one will find reverse osmosis water systems (RO) certified to this standard. Devices in this category will normally have the ability to fully remove organic contaminants, but may only partially remove inorganic compounds and heavy metals.

NSF/ANSI Standard 62: Certified to this standard one will typically find water distillers. The process of distillation removes a wider range of drinking water contaminants than all other methods of drinking water purification. Arsenic, mercury and bacteria all get eliminated through the use of water distillation systems.

NSF/ANSI Standard 177: Water filtration units certified to this standard function as shower head filters designed to remove chlorine from water.

Taking a leak in the swimming pool… now shown to potentially cause harmful cell damage. As if the whole ‘Ewwwww! GROSS!!!’ factor shouldn’t have ALREADY given people incentive not to do it, right?

Well we all know how lazy OTHER people… ahem… can be.

Public swimming pools are more dangerous than you might think, a new study suggests. When sweat and urine, among other organics, mix with the disinfectants in pool water, the result can be hazardous to health.

The findings, announced this week, link the application of disinfectants in recreational pools to genetic cell damage that has been shown to be linked with adverse health outcomes such as asthma and bladder cancer.

Pool water represents extreme cases of disinfection that differ from the disinfection of drinking water as pools are continuously exposed to disinfectants. But with so many people cooling off and exercising in pools and water parks (339 million visits across the United States each year), the disinfectants are a must to prevent outbreaks of infectious disease.

Chlorine and Pee Don’t Mix

The problem occurs when the sanitizers mix with organic matter.

“All sources of water possess organic matter that comes from decaying leaves, microbes and other dead life forms,” said study researcher Michael Plewa, University of Illinois professor of genetics. “In addition to organic matter and disinfectants, pool waters contain sweat, hair, skin, urine and consumer products such as cosmetics and sunscreens from swimmers.”

These consumer products are often nitrogen-rich, and when mixed with disinfectants, these products may become chemically modified and converted into more toxic agents.

Long-term exposure to these disinfection byproducts can mutate genes, induce birth defects, accelerate the aging process, cause respiratory ailments, and even induce cancer, according to the researchers. While the new study did not examine actual effects on humans, it suggests such research might be warranted. ( source )

So listen up, all you nasty bastards and batardettes out there who find it too burdensome to cart your fun -in-the-sun frolicking butts to the bathroom: STOP PEEING IN THE POOL!

Oh, and for all of you who think, “It’s my pee, so it won’t hurt me,” all the other pee rule violators think the exact same thing.

Other Articles of Interest

• Swimmers Disobeying ‘Closed’ Signs Run Risk of Serious Illness
• West Nile Virus and Water Quality
• Myth: Chlorine Kills All Bacteria in Water
• Taylor Test Kits for Pools and Spas

Crystal Quest pitcher replacement filter

Manufacturer: Crystal Quest
Model Number: CQE-RC

4 stages of convenient filtration with a 2,000 gallon capacity.

In stages 1 and 2 KDF55 and KDF85 media reduce iron, mercury, copper, nickel, chromium, other dissolved metals, and harmful bacteria.

Stage 3 features an ion exchange resin that reduces heavy metals (such as lead, copper, aluminum) and lowers water hardness.

The fourth and final stage, a bed of granulated activated carbon (GAC) reduces chlorine by 99.9%, gets rid of bad tastes and odors, reduces pesticides and chemicals that are linked to cancer risks (i.e. benzene, THM’s, toxaphene).

How do you know if you need a water filter?

The answer, quite simply, involves testing your water. You can either test it yourself using a home water testing kit like the Water Quality Test Kit from SenSafe… or you can have a certified water testing laboratory such as National Testing Labs analyze your water.

In cases where homeowners suspect contamination, we always suggest using a certified water testing lab. Better to play it safe than sorry because… It’s your water, your health… and your LIFE!