One would THINK that water coolers absolutely and always contain safe, clean drinking water… but they may not depending upon the frequency of bottle changes and routine maintenance. Safe bet that if you look at the catch tray beneath the spigots (faucet-looking things) and see something fuzzy growing in it, no one has cleaned the insides of the water cooler recently, either.

Water in the replacement bottles (ought to) contain no disinfecting compounds such as chlorine to keep bacteria from multiplying so once the seal on the bottle gets broken, bacteria have a chance to enter the water supply, hang out, party like rock stars, and breed. Gross!

Ways to make water cooler water safer?

At this point we know of two ways to stop unwanted water cooler bacteria from ‘doing the nasty’ and getting away with it: UV Water Sterilizers and Ozone Generators.

UV Water Sterilizers more or less render bacteria unable to reproduce by exposing any bacteria passing through a water filter system to a specific wavelength of ultraviolet light. This method of water treatment normally leaves no chemical aftertaste or unpleasant odor — unless your water contained those things beforehand.

Ozone Generators generate ozone which effectively destroys organics on contact and leaves no unwanted chemical residue or bad tastes in the water. Again, water with bad odor or tastes previously will continue to have those problems.

Both of the above methods work best in systems that use other water treatment methods (i.e. reverse osmosis, carbon block filtration, ultrafiltration, etc.) to make drinking water safe for consumption. They provide a last line of defense again unwanted contaminants that could grow in holding tanks of water coolers or reverse osmosis units post-filtration since the filtering methods removed any anti-bacterial compounds and drinking water disinfectants.

Kyle from Florida asked,

My company does a lot of plumbing work for residential and commercial customers. Not all the time, but many times we get asked to test the water once we finish a job. I see a lot of test kits that use drops and those test strips on the market, but I want to use something a bit more professional like a meter of some sort. All the meters I’ve seen out there that test for a bunch of parameters have a ton of buttons, vials, powders and an instruction manual you could use to knock out a cow. Do they make a multipurpose water testing meter for the simple guy? Thanks for your help and I love the site. Lot of good info here!

Stop it, Kyle, before you make us blush!

To answer your question directly, yes you can find a reliable water testing meter made for the ‘simple guy’ and no you will not have to attend night school just to figure out how it works.

The eXact Micro 7+ Water Testing Meter offers extreme versatility, has only one button to worry about, does not use vials, and comes with a handy, compact manual barely capable of killing a fly.

Below you will see a quick demonstration of how easily you can test water:

Now Kyle, if that looked like too much work, or like it involved way too much ‘technical stuff’, then you may as well hang up your water testing hat(?) and send all your samples out to a place like National Testing Labs ‘cuz testing water in the field does not get any easier than it does with the eXact Micro 7+ Water Testing Meter.

• Direct read parameters — Total Alkalinity, Bromine, Calcium Hardness, Free Chlorine, Total Chlorine, Copper, Ozone, Permanganate, and pH

• Additional parameters — Ammonia, Chloride (as NaCl), Chlorine Dioxide (DPD-1), Chromium Hexavalent, Cyanuric Acid, Fluoride, Hydrazine, Hydrogen Peroxide (Low, Mid and High Range), Iodine (DPD-1), Iron (Fe+2), Total Iron (Fe+2/Fe+3), LR Total Hardness (as CaCO3), Magnesium, Manganese, Nitrate (as NO3), Nitrite (as NO2), pH (Acid and Alkali), Potassium, Protein (as BSA), Sulfate, Sulfide, and Turbidity. Kit includes conversion chart for these parameters.

• USEPA Compliant meter for Free & Total Chlorine — 0.01 ppm (mg/L) precision

• Built-in, permanent cell — no loose glass or plastic cells to lose

• Easy fill testing — Simply fill or dip meter into water

• Automatic countdown timer for accurate timing of testing

• 140 test memory — saves 20 tests per menu item

• No-slip grip housing — ideal for wet testing conditions

• Lightweight — weighs only 6 ounces w/ batteries installed

• Waterproof — IP-67 Rated and meter will float if dropped into water

• Easy-to-read LCD display — no color matching required

• Environmentally friendly — recyclable parts & uses 60% less reagents than 10mL sample tests

• CE certification

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:

Looking for a versatile, 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?

Update — Looking for an easier way to use DPD-1 with your existing chlorine test kit or meter? If it uses as 10 mL sample, then you definitely want to check out DPD-1 ReagentStrips for free chlorine. They mix into solution much quicker, easier and cleanly than DPD powders and DPD tablets and have a much longer shelf life than DPD liquids.

No one in their right mind would argue that testing water for drinking, use in a pool, watering crops, etc. has to happen. One might, however, argue that using test strips and liquid test kits which require the user to match colors can lead to approximations and assumptions regarding critical water parameters such as pH, chlorine/bromine/sanitizer levels, alkalinity, total hardness, heavy metals, etc.

We all know what assumptions can lead to: Making an a## out of you and me.

No one wants to get sick from dirty or polluted water so when accuracy matters most, you may want to put down the test strips and liquid test kits and opt for a verstile water testing meter such as the eXact Micro 7+ which tests for NINE critical water parameters using direct read measurements and an additional TWENTY-SEVEN other important water parameters with the use of a conversion chart.

Features of the eXact Micro 7+ Water Testing Meter:

• Tests for 36 parameters in total

• Nine direct read parameters — Total Alkalinity, Bromine, Calcium Hardness, Free Chlorine, Total Chlorine, Copper, Ozone, Permanganate, and pH

• Twenty-Seven parameters using a conversion chart: Ammonia, Chloride (as NaCl), Chlorine Dioxide (DPD-1), Chromium Hexavalent, Cyanuric Acid, Fluoride, Hydrazine, Hydrogen Peroxide (Low, Mid and High Range), Iodine (DPD-1), Iron (Fe+2), Total Iron (Fe+2/Fe+3), LR Total Hardness (as CaCO3), Magnesium, Manganese, Nitrate (as NO3), Nitrite (as NO2), pH (Acid and Alkali), Potassium, Protein (as BSA), Sulfate, Sulfide, and Turbidity

• USEPA Compliant meter for Free & Total Chlorine — 0.01 ppm (mg/L) precision

• Built-in, permanent cell — no loose glass or plastic cells to lose

• Easy fill testing — Simply fill or dip meter into water

• Automatic countdown timer for accurate timing of testing

• 140 test memory — saves 20 tests per menu item

• Incorporates eXact® Strip technology — safe & reliable reagent dispersion

• No-slip grip housing — ideal for wet testing conditions

• Lightweight — weighs only 6 ounces w/ batteries installed

• Waterproof — IP-67 Rated and meter will float if dropped into water

• Easy-to-read LCD display — no color matching required

• Environmentally friendly — recyclable parts & uses 60% less reagents than 10mL sample tests

• Proprietary optics — allows for accurate testing without cap

• CE certification

Interested in learning how this device works? Check out the image below as it takes you through the steps of how to test w/ the eXact Micro 7+ Water Testing Meter.

With temperatures soaring to record and near record highs all across the United States, it comes as no surprise to us that we have received numerous questions pertaining to the proper treatment of green swimming pool water, smelly swimming pool water… and some water that would make the average sewer worker vomit.

Therefore we have located yet another online source for Pool Water Testing and Pool Chemical Supplies. Below you will find quick links to various pool testing supplies, pool chemicals, pool shock treatments and other items such as automatic chemical feeders for swimming pools.

Just as with your drinking water, though, nothing beats a professional water test if you have reason to suspect that harmful bacteria or harmful levels of contaminants have entered your pool water.

With all the posts we’ve written about the importance of testing chlorine levels in drinking water, we seem to have forgotten that a lot of people have test kits already and simply need replacement dpd tablets. The links below will take you to a site where you can pick up replacement dpd tablets and DPD powder for the Taylor brand of water test kits for pools and spas.

Interested in taking your testing to the next level? Got a need for fast, accurate and very versatile water testing meter system that won’t break your budget? Take a quick look at the eXact Micro 7+ Standard Photometer Kit and you may very well find what you seek.

Making use of the reliable and quite convenient reagentstrip delivery system for many of its tests, the eXact Micro 7+ Standard Photometer Kit greatly reduces testing times without affecting the quality of its water test results.

The new eXact Micro 7+ Standard Photometer Kit from Industrial Test Systems offers homeowners and water quality professionals the ability to test for 26 different parameters to ensure their water is safe and suitable for a variety of uses. Ideal for residential, commercial or municipal testing, this waterproof meter provides faster, easier and more accurate testing than strips alone can provide.

This kit comes with 25 test strips each of the following parameters: free chlorine (DPD-1), total chlorine (DPD-3), pH, bromine (DPD-1), total alkalinity, calcium and copper.

In addition to these, the following 17 parameters may also be tested through the kit’s Tr-7 transmission function (requires the use of a conversion table): Ammonia, Chloride/Salt, Chlorine Dioxide, Chromium Hexavalent, Cyanuric Acid, Iodine, Iron, Low Range Total Hardness, Manganese, Nitrate, Nitrite, Acid pH, Alkali pH, Potassium, Sulfate, Sulfide and Turbidity. ( source )

While cruising the Information Superhighway for useful information pertaining to drinking water we recently came across an article posted on TruthOfWater.Com regarding safe storage times for drinking water purified through a home distillation process.

Some commercial bottled water companies use distillation as their drinking water purification method. They then bottle their product and ship it off to retailers in containers marked with super long shelflifes, but can the typical homeowner distill their own water and assume their homebrewed product will stay fresh just as long?

Answer: No, and the article we found explains why.

“Distillation of water is an effective way to ensure most chemical and biological contaminants are left behind. It is an easy and fast way to treat water in your own home for drinking and cooking.

When purchasing store bought bottled water, a reputable manufacturer will ensure that the water is completely disinfected before bottling. Most will add a disinfectant like ozone to the process, because it is a powerful disinfectant. The bottle is then sealed and any remaining ozone quickly converts to oxygen shortly after that. It’s this disinfection/sealing process that allows bottled water to be stored indefinately.

The process you describe will allow for some interaction with the environment in the glass bottle. Because there is no trace disinfectant left in your water, it could leave it open for propagation of bacteria. In this case, you water should be consumed within the same amount of time that food can last in the fridge, within a week or two. Any longer and it could turn stagnant.

If you would like to produce water that would last longer for storage, you could follow a pasteurization technique as you would with producing home canned goods. Using heat on a sealed bottle in the proper technique would ensure any bacteria allowed to enter the bottle is killed, and would allow you for longer storage of your water.” (source)

From the sounds of things, unless water produced through distillation methods will get consumed in a short period of time, its consumers must engage in an involved storage process if they wish to keep a large supply of distilled water on-hand.

Given that information, stocking up on commercially prepared gallon-size (or larger depending upon anticipated usage rate) containers of distilled water may make more sense than attempting to create your own stockpile at home.

Thoughts of testing water for specific chemical parameters scares a lot of folks because they remember all the horrible nights they spent cramming for an upcoming Chemistry test in high school and/or college. Trust us when we say, “We feel your pain. Been there and done that.”

You should also trust us, though, when we say you don’t need complicated chemistry sets or highly specialized training to find out if your tap water contains dangerous levels of things like:

Now, of course, should the results of your home water testing for key water parameters yield results above expected and/or acceptable limits, you will most certainly want to have a certified water professional perform more advanced tests on your drinking water and at no time should you rely on home water quality test kits if you have serious reason to suspect that your water contains know carcinogens or other life threatening contaminants. Leave that sort of testing up to the Water Testing Professionals in your area.