For the sake of this article, and because it would make his/her inquiry make more sense, we will assume that Malli intended to ask for a method of testing for FLUORIDE levels in water.

Regretfully we have not heard of any ‘new’ methods a person can use to detect fluoride levels in drinking water since we last addressed this topic. Therefore we will continue to suggest using a meter such as the eXact Micro 7+ Water Testing Meter that uses Fluoride (SPADNS) Reagent to detect fluoride levels in water as low as 0.1 ppm and as high as 1.1 ppm.

One could also use the mail-in fluoride testing services of a company called National Testing Laboratories to determine how much, if any fluoride their drinking water contains.

eXact Micro 7+ Water Testing Meter

Fluoride Test Reagent

So, Malli, once you determine if your water contains fluoride, next you will need to decide if you wish to remove or reduce that fluoride level… assuming you have fluoride in your water to begin with.

Removing/Reducing Fluoride Levels in Drinking Water?

When it comes to finding an effective means of reducing fluoride levels in drinking water, thus far our ‘research’ always points us down the same path… towards reverse osmosis water filters. The unit you see on the right, the Pentek RO-3500, has gone through testing and gotten certified by NSF/ANSI to Standard 58 for the reduction of Pentavalent Arsenic, Barium, Cadmium, Copper, Hexavalent & Trivalent Chromium, Cyst, Fluoride, Lead, Nitrate/Nitrite, Radium 226/228, Selenium, TDS and Turbidity.

Though definitely NOT the most expensive unit on the market, this filter has successfully passed third party testing, can produce nearly 8 gallons of crystal clear, filtered drinking water per day, and does so while reducing fluoride levels by more than 90%.

Moral of the story?

You will never know exactly how much fluoride, iron, copper, manganese, chlorine, salt, or other unwanted contaminants your water contains until you perform the appropriate tests on your water. Then, and only then, will you have the ability to make an educated decision regarding water treatment options.

Seemed odd at first (several years ago), but after getting asked the same thing so many times we eventually came to the conclusion that a good number of people really and truly don’t know what questions they ought to have about the quality of their drinking water.

Therefore, for your reading pleasure we will now give a list of the 10 most popular topics on Water Testing Blog for the month of August (2011):

1. Free Chlorine, Total Chlorine and Combined Chlorine
    
2. Testing for Fluoride in Water
    
3. Converting Hardness: Grains per Gallon to Parts per Million
    
4. What is DPD?
    
5. Chlorine Testing: Drinking Water vs. Pool Water
    
6. Simple Chlorine Testing Meter
    
7. Dirty Pool Water Can Make You Very Sick
    
8. Testing for Chlorine in Drinking Water
    
9. Lead in Soil
    
10. Private Well Water and Natural Gas Drilling

In no way does the above list begin to scratch the surface of what curious folks read on our site, but it may help you decide what questions YOU want answered… and if you come up with a question or topic you’d like us to address, send it to us using our submit a comment/question form.

It did, however, kind of shock us that hydraulic fracturing (aka: fracking), a means of extracting natural gas from shale buried deep beneath the Earth’s surface, came in so low on the list given the amount of (bad) publicity hydraulic fracturing has received in the past few years.

We also found it somewhat odd that bacteria in water did not make a single appearance in the list but then again, most folks in the United States have city/municipal water and make the assumption that city/municipal water couldn’t ever contain something as common as bacteria — and that, friends, can sometimes become a dangerous assumption to make!

Science Project Water Testing Kit

Free and Total Chlorine in Water Test Kit

Nitrates and Nitrites in Water Test Kit

Pesticides in Water Test Kit (Atrazine/Simazine)

Heavy Metals in Water Test Kit

Coliform Bacteria in Water Test Kit

]]> http://watertestingblog.com/2011/09/16/popular-water-testing-topics/feed/ 0 http://watertestingblog.com/2011/09/01/test-kit-for-fluoride/ http://watertestingblog.com/2011/09/01/test-kit-for-fluoride/#comments Fri, 02 Sep 2011 02:08:33 +0000 Water Testing Blog http://watertestingblog.com/?p=4738 Today’s inquiry came from ‘Bill’ and it seems as though Bill has a bit of a bone to pick with fluoride in his drinking water and wants to do two things, both of which nearly bring tears to our eyes:

1. Bill wants to test the fluoride level in his water before it goes into his water filter. As awe have said time and time again, without a baseline scan of your water’s quality you will undoubtedly run the risk of selecting the incorrect tools for cleaning up your water.

2. Then, Bill wants to test the fluoride levels in the water after it leaves his water filter to make sure the filter did its job. Continual monitoring of one’s filtered water quality gives real-time performance data on one’s chosen water improvement device(s).

Enough of our words, though, and let’s here from Bill himself: “I am looking for a fluoride test–I am installing a filter to remove fluoride–and want to know what levelis presecn Please advise–the page on your website says to use the eXact Micro 7+ Water Testing Meter but the product description says nothing about it being used for fluoride”

None of us here at Water Testing Blog have control over the content posted on the sites of merchants who sell the eXact Micro 7+ water testing meter… but we can assure you that the meter does have the ability to test for fluoride in drinking water.

As a direct result of your inquiry, Bill, we checked on the meter manufacturer’s web site for the current version of the eXact Micro 7+ water testing meter manual and on page 19 of the document you will find instructions on how to use their meter to test fluoride levels in drinking water.

As of 8/17/11, the date contained in the manual’s file name, the eXact Micro 7+ detects levels of fluoride in water as low as 0.1 ppm and as high as 1.1 ppm. As with any test procedure, use of proper dilution techniques would allow for the quantification of higher fluoride levels if needed.

Keep in mind, though, that the basic eXact Micro 7+ kit does not come with the necessary fluoride reagent strips. You will find those, along with many other optional reagentstrips for testing a bunch of other water quality parameters listed on the eXact Micro 7+ ReagentStrip page.

eXact Micro 7+ Basic Test Kit

eXact Micro 10 Basic Test Kit

National Testing Labs Fluoride Test Kit

]]> http://watertestingblog.com/2011/09/01/test-kit-for-fluoride/feed/ 0 http://watertestingblog.com/2011/07/28/fluoride-filter-systems-for-underaround-200/ http://watertestingblog.com/2011/07/28/fluoride-filter-systems-for-underaround-200/#comments Thu, 28 Jul 2011 12:56:11 +0000 Water Testing Blog http://watertestingblog.com/?p=4526 As the debate over fluoride in the public water supply rages on with no apparent end in sight, many people opposed to the idea of fluoridated drinking water have started installing specialized water filtration systems to remove and/or reduce fluoride levels in the water coming out of their faucets.

While attending a birthday party for a young child recently a fellow parent attending the party remarked how the restaurant’s water ‘tasted an awful lot like pool water’ and later ‘that it probably had a ton of fluoride in it, too.’

Several other parents chimed in about the quality of the water of the water at the restaurant and eventually the conversation worked its way around the table until finally some asked if we knew of an inexpensive filter that would remove fluoride and get rid of ‘that nasty chlorine taste’.

Apparently one of our other friends spilled the beans about our interest in water quality at some other gathering we couldn’t attend.

Not wanting to miss the opportunity to share a bit of water quality knowledge with an eager audience, we pulled out the laptop (since the restaurant DID have free wireless service… despite its lousy water!) and visited a few sites that we knew carried water filters to reduce fluoride in drinking water.

One noteworthy thing we noticed right away: Although genuinely interested in improving the taste of their water and having the option of whether or not their families consumed fluoride via tap water, few seemed willing to cross the $200 mark for a system. Whether a sign of economic hardship in average families or an indicator that people really don’t care THAT much about the quality of their water, we do not know and we dare not get too involved in topics like that.

At this point we would like to point out that we had more than enough parents in the restaurant watching the kids play in the ball pits, blast aliens on the video games, etc. that our small little group’s conversation did not in any way jeopardize the safety of any children OR result in the disruption of others’ peaceful enjoyment of the establishment.

So… With THAT declaration out of the way, our searches and discussions brought us to the doorsteps of two products that seemed to meet our audience’s needs: the Undersink Fluoride Filter Triple and Pentek RO-3500 Water Filter System.

Both water filter systems claimed to reduce fluoride levels — and on that note we want inform all of you that pretty much NO fluoride filter we came across totally removed fluoride from drinking water — and so we’ll flip a coin to decide which system we discuss first.

* flip * . . . . . Heads. The Crystal Quest Triple Under Sink Water Filter wins.

Cost: Ringing in at the cash register between $173 and $213 depending upon how long you want the multi-stage filter last. You have the option of 10,000, 20,000 or 30,000 gallons. Last time we checked, Filter Water had the unit available (with all three third cartridge options to choose from) with free shipping in the Continental United States.

Fluoride Reduction: In this unit’s second filter cartridge, water travels through fine-mesh ‘pre-resin media’ (SIR-900) to reduce fluoride below 0.5 ppm. At the same time, this filter also reduces arsenic levels if present.

Other Contaminants: In the first cartridge water passes through a carbon block which removes and/or removes volatile organic compounds (VOC’s), insecticides & pesticides (such as atrazine and simazine), and a number of industrial solvents commonly found in drinking water. Chlorine taste and odor also get reduced in this stage.

Our ‘Final’ Opinion: If you want a simple under sink water filter system that will do a lot to improve the taste and safety of your drinking water, the Crystal Quest Triple Under Sink Filter stands as a solid contender from what we have read. Well worth taking a look at if you want to keep spending down and still reap the rewards and benefits of a fluoride (and other contaminants) water filter.

In closing we’d like to offer the testimony of an actual Crystal Quest Triple Under Sink Filter user:

On 2/16/2011 ‘Lynn’ said, “The Undersink Fluoride Filter is a grand product. With the filter your water goes through a cleaning series of 8 stages to prevent all the harmful government added substances from entering the body. It comes with 3 cartridges two that need to be replaced every 6 months to a year. The filter was simple to install and works wonderfully! I would recommend this filter to all citizens who want ‘Big Brother’ out of their water.” (on FilterWater.Com web site)

And now we shall discuss the Pentek RO-3500 Water Filter System. . .

Cost: Ringing in at the cash register at either $199 and $259 depending upon whether or not you want an electronic monitoring system keeping an eye on the effluent stream (water treated by your unit), this unit packs quite a punch for the money.

For around $200 or $260 dollars homeowners can get their hands on a reverse osmosis water system certified and tested to NSF/ANSI Standard 58 for the following: Arsenic (Pentavalent) Reduction, Barium Reduction, Cadmium Reduction, Copper Reduction, Chromium (Hexavalent) Reduction, Chromium (Trivalent) Reduction, Cyst Reduction, Fluoride Reduction, Lead Reduction, Nitrate/Nitrite Reduction, Radium 226/228 Reduction, Selenium Reduction, TDS Reduction, Turbidity Reduction, Chlorine Reduction – Aesthetic, and Taste & Odor Reduction.

Fluoride Reduction: As stated in the last paragraph, the Pentek RO-3500 Water Filter System has passed rigorous testing by an independent laboratory proven that it’s fluoride reduction capabilities meet the requirements of NSF/ANSI Standard 58.

Other Contaminants: We already discussed how the Pentek RO-3500 has tested and certified to NSF/ANSI Standard 58 for the reduction of a bunch of potentially dangerous and definitely unwanted drinking water contaminants so we won’t bore you with the full list a second time.

Our ‘Final’ Opinion: Before we tell you much we like the benefits this system offers, we do want to mention a few reasons why a reverse osmosis water filter system like the Pentek RO-3500 and others may NOT work well for everyone:

1. Some people feel they waste water since not all of the water that goes into the system will wind up as usable drinking water and gets discharged as waste.

2. The water generated by reverse osmosis systems tends to have an aggressive nature.

3. Reverse osmosis water treatment systems produce ‘flat’ tasting water that some people find a bit unpleasant. Because of that taste many owners of reverse osmosis systems choose to install a simple post-ro re-mineralizing cartridge that adds important minerals for taste and nutrition while also balancing the pH of the water before consumption.

OK, so having said ALL that, we found the Pentek RO-3500′s NSF Certification extremely appealing since it ‘guarantees’ the performance of the unit for at the very least, its ability to reduce concentrations of a known list of contaminants.

Water Test Kit for Bacteria

Fluoride in Water Test Kit

Water Contaminant Test Kit

]]> http://watertestingblog.com/2011/07/28/fluoride-filter-systems-for-underaround-200/feed/ 0 http://watertestingblog.com/2011/06/17/simple-way-to-reduce-fluoride-in-drinking-water/ http://watertestingblog.com/2011/06/17/simple-way-to-reduce-fluoride-in-drinking-water/#comments Fri, 17 Jun 2011 13:03:18 +0000 Water Testing Blog http://watertestingblog.com/?p=4386 With articles about the debate over adding (or not adding) fluoride to the public water supply popping up in the news on a semi-regular basis it never surprises us when a reader asks us a question about fluoride in drinking water. Today’s question comes from ‘Andee03′ who asked,

“I like the idea of the low maintenance filter you wrote about today, but does it remove fluoride? For the low price I doubt it so does anyone make one that does? Thx andee03″

Well, Andee, it just so happens that Crystal Quest, the manufacturer of the disposable countertop water filter we wrote about recently, does, in fact, make a disposable filter that reduces fluoride levels in drinking water.

They call it the Fluoride Multi PLUS and from what we can tell, it does all the things that the other filter did plus it reduces fluoride levels… without jumping up too much in cost.

Why the concern over fluoride?

Rather than repeat the content from earlier postings about fluoride we will opt to say, “Please refer to Testing for Fluoride in Water since it gives a very good (and short!) explanation of why people have concerns over the presence of fluoride in drinking water.”

Reducing/Removing fluoride from drinking water?

The disposable, zero-maintenance Crystal Quest Countertop Fluoride Filter mentioned above will most certainly help reduce fluoride levels in drinking water, but what if a person wants a filter that offers more robust filtering features?

Dual Filter for Fluoride: Fluoride Filter & 6-Stage Multi-Filter

Triple Filter for Fluoride: Fluoride Filter, 6-Stage Multi-Filter & Carbon Block

]]> http://watertestingblog.com/2011/06/17/simple-way-to-reduce-fluoride-in-drinking-water/feed/ 0 http://watertestingblog.com/2011/05/13/test-kit-for-fluoride-in-drinking-water/ http://watertestingblog.com/2011/05/13/test-kit-for-fluoride-in-drinking-water/#comments Fri, 13 May 2011 13:03:57 +0000 Water Testing Blog http://watertestingblog.com/?p=3997 We get questions asking us about test kits for fluoride on a regular basis and today we have some exciting news: FilterWater.Com has partnered with National Testing Laboratories and now carries a home drinking water test kit for fluoride that allows homeowners to find out if their water contains fluoride, and if so how much, in as little as 5 days.

Why test for fluoride?

While considered ‘safe’ by the USEPA for use as a drinking water additive that helps prevent tooth decay, countries in Europe and other places around the world have outlawed its use because of studies that have shown a correlation between fluoridated water and serious health problems.