TeddyGurl recently asked,

I want to know more about the water parameter tests such as turbidity, pH, chlorine, and calcium.

What is the common testing method that should be done?

Thank you for your question TeddyGurl. We will address each part of your inquiry separately.

Turbidity refers to the level of cloudiness or haziness in a liquid caused by concentrations of small particles, also known as suspended solids. The higher the concentration of these particles, the greater the turbidity of the liquid and more cloudy it appears.

To measure turbidity, one typically uses a meter of some sort. The eXact Water Testing Meter has a detection range of 3 to 580 NTU.

For the record, water with a turbidity reading of around 500 NTU will appear milky to the naked eye and water with a turbidity reading of around 50 NTU will appear cloudy, but still allow light to pass through.

pH refers to the measure of how acidic or basic a solution is. Its scale runs from 0.0 to 14.0 with 7.0 as its neutral (not acidic and not basic) value. Solutions with pH values greater than 7.0 get labeled as basic and solutions with pH values less than 7.0 get labeled as acidic.

To measure pH, one has several options: liquid/powder/tablet based test kits, test strips and electronic meters.

Chlorine gets added to drinking water as a disinfectant (an antimicrobial agent used on non-living objects to eradicate and destroy microorganisms which can cause infection). The United States Environmental Agency has set the Maximum Contaminant Level (MCL) for chlorine at 4.0 ppm (parts per million), or 4.0 mg/L (milligrams per liter).

When testing for chlorine in water, one can choose between liquid/powder/tablet based test kits, test strips and electronic meters.

Calcium has the atomic number of 20 and ranks as the fifth most abundant element in the Earth’s crust. When it comes to drinking water, calcium acts to ‘harden’ the water and so therefore when one measures the hardness of water, one actually measures the calcium (and magnesium to a lesser extent) concentration in the water.

To measure the calcium content in water, one can choose between liquid/powder/tablet based test kits, test strips and electronic meters.

Over the past 2 years we have mentioned test strips for commonly tested water parameters such as chlorine, pH, water hardness, bacteria, and heavy metals on a regular basis. Recently someone asked us if we knew of test strips for other, less commonly tested water parameters.

Without knowing exactly WHICH unusual water parameters to look for we just started searching for odd water contaminants and came up with the following:

Tony from California asked…

My wife and I just bought a home and although the real estate agent showed us all sorts of confusing paperwork that supposedly proved our tap water passed all sorts of tests we still have our doubts. We want to do some testing ourselves. What are the most commonly tested water parameters? Thank you.

We will answer that question in two ways: 1) We will ask a water testing and filtration dealership; 2) We will look at this site’s history and see what pages people have loaded most often this month.

IsoPure Water replied to our inquiry by listing the top three selling water test strips: SenSafe Free Chlorine, WaterWorks Total Hardness and SenSafe Total Chlorine.

With regard to the most popular postings on Water Testing Blog, in the month of January 2010 more people looked at these blog entries than any others:

• Hardness: Grains per Gallon vs. Parts per Million
• Testing Chlorine Levels: Drinking Water vs. Pool Water
• Your Baby Needs Safe, Clean Drinking Water
• Free Chlorine, Combined Chlorine and Total Chlorine
• Acceptable TDS Meter Readings Do Not Guarantee Safe Drinking Water

Think we’re kidding? Just ask everyone living south of the Mason-Dixon line that has had to put up with a lot more days of below freezing temperatures than they have seen in many years. Then for a more personal look at the damage done by all the cold weather, go and ask the residents of Jackson, Mississippi what the cold weather has done to their town’s water system.

Unusually cold temperatures caused more than 70 city water mains to break over the past week in Jackson, Miss., prompting Gov. Haley Barbour to declare a state of emergency and close state offices on Monday.

Residents of Jackson, the state capital, endured trickling faucets and, in some cases, no running water. Construction crews disrupted traffic to make emergency repairs.

Public schools and many businesses closed after their toilets and sinks stopped working. Mayor Harvey Johnson Jr. urged residents to conserve and boil water, but he could not say when the pipes would be fixed.

“We’ve had 70-plus hours of below-freezing temperatures,” said Chris Mims, a spokesman for the city. “That hasn’t happened in almost 30 years.” ( source )

Residents all over the Southeatern United States had endured temperatures far colder than usual for this time of year and as a result, many people have woken up to busted water lines in their homes. Many dwellings lack the proper amount of insulation required to keep their water pipes from freezing and bursting.

While people cannot do anything about the cold weather, they can do something to try and minimize the damage a broken water line can cause by installing a flood alarm neaar the location where water lines enter their homes. Hearing the alarm go off will give people a chance to keep an already bad situation from getting much, much worse.

Yes, water damage will occur in a situation like this and nothing will stop that from happening. How MUCH damage occurs will depend entirely on how quickly someone shuts off the water coming into the building.

Prevent costly water damage by installing a wireless flood alarm system sensor anywhere water might collect as a result of a mechanical failure such as a washing machine overflowing, accidental flooding caused by pipes freezing and bursting, or a natural disaster such as heavy rains causing the water table to rise and begin seeping into your basement.

A simple and relatively inexpensive investment in a wireless flood alarm system can save you thousands of dollars in the long run.

Note: The base unit of the alarm shown also has the ability to work with other types of sensors designed to detect motion and/or the opening of a window, door, or garage door.

After the Pipes Get Fixed…

Although every situation will vary, pretty much every busted pipes situation will require a purging of water lines in the dwelling after the pipes get fixed and yes, we suggest tesating the water after the purging for things like bacteria, metals, and chlorine levels (if on city water).

Some people believe they have to sacrifice creature comforts such as a ‘cool’ showerhead that gives the sensation of standing in the rain if they want to install a shower filter that will reduce chlorine taste, chlorine odor and water harness. Those people clearly have not done their research!

After only a short web search we located a rain simulating showerhead manufactured by Paragon Water that has a built-in (replaceable) filter good for 10,000 gallons of shower water.

The filter uses a mixture of KDF and proprietary media to filter out impurities in the water. KDF stands for ‘Kinetic Degradation Fluxion’ and contains a high-purity copper-zinc formulation which uses a chemical process known as redox (oxidation/reduction) to reduce chlorine, lead, mercury, iron, and hydrogen sulfide levels in water.

For folks who may have other water quality issues, health officials and water professionals suggest using KDF shower or other point-of-use KDF filters in conjunction with other water purification methods since KDF filters alone will not remove potentially harmful contaminants such as bacteria, viruses, fluoride, and nitrates.

Although we cannot and will not ever say whether we prefer the WaterSafe brand of home water testing kits or the SenSafe brand of home water testing kits, we can tell you that we have used both extensively over the years and gotten excellent field testing results pretty much every time.

Having said all that, it pleases us to announce the launch of a brand new web site: WaterSafe-Test-Kits.Com. There you will find product details on all of WaterSafe’s most popular water testing kits. You can also access the product pages on the site using the links below!

Coming Soon: The official release of a web site dedicated to providing information on the SenSafe, WaterWorks, Quick and eXact brands of water testing strips, water testing kits and water testing meters!

Many municipalities add some form of chlorine to disinfect the drinking water they distribute. The USEPA has ruled that municipalities may not distribute water containing greater than 4.0 ppm (parts per million) free or total chlorine. For information on the difference between free and total chlorine please visit this page on our site.

For those looking to find fast, easy ways to test free chlorine levels, total chlorine levels, and/or both, the following test strip kits will come in handy!

While the idea of a shower head changing colors in response to a change in water temperature sounds kind of amusing, we think people ought to consider installing a shower head that will improve the quality of their shower water rather than the lighting in their shower stall.

Again, we find the following ‘technology’ rather cool… but somewhat superficial in the grand scheme of things.

You got your skin burned in the hot shower due to a mistake of turning up the temperature control too high as you couldn’t see the reading on the control knob clearly. So, you’ll need a better gadget that would tell you in a more prominent way that the water is burning hot. Here comes a color changing illuminated shower head, which changes color according to the temperature of the water. When you’re increasing the temperature of the water, the color will change from white when it’s cold, to blue, then purple and finally the hot red.

The color changing illuminated shower head features a temperature-sensitive color-changing LED. The shower head needs neither battery nor external power to run. All it depends is the water that runs through it. Installation is easy, just unscrew your current shower head and screw this one on. ( source )

Really cool looking shower colors may do a lot to set the mood for some things, like, um… Well, never mind that. Let’s just focus on the idea that shower heads designed to remove chlorine, excessive water hardness, or other water impurities make a lot of sense.

Note: WaterSafe makes a test kit to test both chlorine and water hardness. Details here.

Looking for a verstile, lightweight, waterproof water quality testing meter? Need an EPA Compliant testing meter for chlorine testing?

Introducing a new photometer using a patented method and technologies that offer faster, safer, easier, and more precise water testing.
The eXact Micro 7+ offers seven modes which provide direct read capabilities for Total Alkalinity, Bromine, Calcium Hardness, Free Chlorine, Total Chlorine, Copper, Ozone, Permanganate, pH, and % Transmission – which allows for testing of an additional 17 parameters.

The eXact Micro 7+ can measure a total of up to 26 parameters and provides EPA Compliant testing method for both Free & Total Chlorine when used with DPD chemistry.

In need of replacement reagentstrip bottles for your eXact Micro 7+ Water Quality Testing Meter?

While not always fatal, a condition known as Legionnaire’s Disease has taken lives in the past and can, at the very least, make people very ill.

The waterborne Legionella pathogen that causes typically treatable but potentially fatal Legionnaire’s disease is found in domestic drinking water systems, cooling towers, evaporative condensers and decorative fountains. Other contained systems like vehicle washing equipment are also at risk. A May 2008 public Legionnaires’ outbreak was linked to a self-serve carwash in Australia and two Albany, NY bus washing system employees who contracted the illness in August 2007, according to industry trade reports. ( source )

Health officials and scientists often find Legionella pathogens in closed water systems with elevated water temperatures. The higher temperatures make maintaining an adequate disinfectant level in the water very difficult and for that reason certain pathogens can flourish in these environments.

In cases where the water gets converted to a mist by sprinkler systems, produce misters or other devices, the Legionella pathogen can become airborne and have an excellent opportunity to infect a large number of people very rapidly.

Signs of exposure include, but may not be limited to, high fever temperatures and flu-like symptoms. People with suppressed or weakend immune systems tend to become infected faster and often times more seriously than people with healthy immune systems.

What methods exist for preventing the growth and distribution of the Legionella pathogen?

Thermal Heat/Flush – Water temperature raised to as high as 160ºF for up to 30 minutes to sterilize systems. Chemical-free, commonly-used method requires no additional equipment. Labor intensive and can prove ineffective for long-term Legionella infestation management. Can damage older pipes and creates potential for scalding.

Shock (Hyper) Chlorination – Chlorine injected into water distribution system. Initial shock chlorination levels approach 50 ppm, and taper off to create 2ppm to 5ppm chlorine cycle. Chlorine decomposes rapidly at elevated water temperatures; Legionella re-colonization can occur in as little as one to two weeks during continuous chlorination following the shock. Highly corrosive to plumbing (can be offset in part with silicate corrosion control). Places facility employees handle stored chemicals or implement disinfection at risk for exposure to chlorine byproduct Trihalomethane (THMs, linked to several types of cancer).

Chlorine Dioxide – Chlorine Dioxide (CIO2) is EPA-approved for potable water disinfectant use under CFR Par 141-National Primary Drinking Water Regulation. Commonly used in Europe, CIO2 is a gas generated by either chemical or electrolytic means and distributed throughout the water distribution system. The powerful oxidant kills Legionella and other bacteria. CIO2 readily decomposes in drinking water and residuals decrease as water system temperatures rise, making this treatment approach difficult in hot water systems. CIO2 is corrosive to plumbing infrastructure and creates byproducts including chlorate and chlorite; field testing for EPA maximum limits is required.

Copper-Silver Ionization – Latest advance in disinfection methods dissolves and distributes small amounts of copper and silver ions throughout water systems to eradicate bacteria. Continuous eradication metallic ion unit is required. Highly effective in eliminating Legionella, particularly in recirculation hot water systems, according to research and monitoring of hospital-implemented systems by Janet F. Stout, Ph.D., University of Pittsburgh special pathogens laboratory director and an international expert on waterborne pathogens. ( source )

Each Legionella prevention method requires testing on one level or another. Thermometers, high range free chlorine test strips, chlorine dioxide test strips, and/or dissolved copper in water test strips can all play a key part in maintaining a safe, Legionella-free closed water system.