Total Chlorine High Range
Test Strips

If you have a need to test for total chlorine levels (free chlorine + combined chlorine) in the range of 0 to 80 ppm then the Total Chlorine HR (High Range) water quality test strips will definitely come in handy. Sold in bottles of 50 tests, this product makes total chlorine testing in the field, in the lab, and just about anywhere a fast, easy process.

• Detection Range: 0, 5, 10, 20, 30, 40, 60, 80 ppm (mg/L)
• Total Test Time of Less Than 40 Seconds
• Manufacturer Part Number: 480033
• Made in the United States by Industrial Test Systems, Inc.
• Total Chlorine HR Test Strips require no powders to mix, tablets to crush, drops to add/count, or glass ampuoles to break.

What is the MCL (Maximum Contaminant Level) for Chlorine?

In municipal water systems the US Environmental Protection Agency has stated that a water treatment facility must take immediate action to reduce free and/or total chlorine levels in excess of 4 ppm (mg/L).

How Does the Total Chlorine HR Compare to DPD Test Methods?

Unlike DPD test methods for higher (than 10ppm) concentrations of total chlorine which require test personnel to perform dilutions before testing samples, the High Range Total Chlorine Test Strips allow for immediate, on-the-spot testing of water samples.

Why Do DPD Test Methods Require Dilution(s) of Samples?

When testing water samples containing more than 8 to 10 ppm of total chlorine either as free chlorine or combined chlorine the chemical indicator DPD ‘bleaches out’ and becomes clear. Therefore a sample must get diluted prior to testing to make certain the total chlorine concentration does not approach 8 parts per million.

The Total Chlorine High Range test procedure does not require dilution for samples containing more than 8 or 10 ppm chlorine since its chemical indicator can endure and continue to function properly in the presence of elevated chlorine levels.

Moral of the Story?

If you need to test for higher levels of total chlorine than traditional DPD methods allow, and you want to do it quickly and accurately, the WaterWorks Total Chlorine High Range test strip product will most certainly come in handy.

‘TomToo’ very recently — as in a few minutes ago — asked about chlorine testing and which chlorine test he should use:

“Saw your chlorine sale announcement and have a question. The water in our beach house stinks really bad of chlorine when we first get there and we want to test to make sure it’s safe to use but you have free and total chlorine strips. How do you know which to use?”

Thanks for your inquiry, TomToo, and believe us when we say others share your confusion when it comes to knowing which type of chlorine they need to test for.

Lucky for you, though, we have simple answer if your concern deals only with worrying about having too much chlorine in the water. You should test for total chlorine.

The USEPA set the Maximum Contaminant Level for chlorine in drinking water at 4 ppm (parts per million) and that number takes into account ALL of the chlorine in a water sample, meaning both free and combined chlorine.

Moral of the story?

If you need to know the FULL amount of chlorine in a drinking water sample, testing for total chlorine makes the most sense.

Whether testing drinking water at home, process water used in an industrial application, or wastewater for its chlorine before discharge into the environment, we feel quite certain that at least one of the chlorine test strip products above will come in handy — and this weekend you can save money when buying them!

As always, if you have any questions, please do not hesitate to ask! You may reach us easily using our Contact Us Form…. and yes we work on the weekends. 🙂

Have a great weekend, everyone, and don’t forget to stay hydrated!

may sound dumb but I have just purchased a hot tub and these strips came with it, I
am not understanding the difference between total chlorine and free chlorine my test
shows 0 on both the rest of my colors are good what do I need to add? thanks

Believe it or not, Sally, we actually COMMEND you for having the courage to ask the question that you did… because too many people don’t ask questions and wind up with potentially unsafe water conditions!

For a tutorial on the differences between free and total chlorine we suggest you take a look at a popular blog entry on our site called “What is the Difference Between Total Residual Chlorine and Free Chlorine?“.

In a nutshell, however, if you use chlorine or bromine to sanitize your hot tub water then you have a problem that needs remedying right away: Your water contains no sanitizers — and you need to add some right away!

If, on the other hand, you use an alternative water sanitizing system (mineral ionization, ozone, peroxide, biguanide, etc.), then having no chlorine reading on either pad probably isn’t an issue.

Testing for alternative sanitizers

As more and more folks migrate towards alternative sanitizing systems for their spas and hot tubs, the need for testing methods for the alternative sanitizing methods grows.

Thankfully some methods, like the WaterWorks Peroxide Test Strips and the SenSafe Ozone Check, already exist.

And now for something completely (maybe) different…

Always consider the source water FIRST

Whether you have a swimming pool or a hot tub, the final quality of your water will depend heavily upon the quality of your source water (the water you fill your pool or hot tub with) and, more importantly, what you do to correct any issues that may exist with the water once you have added it to your pool or spa.

As ‘coders’ in the computer programming world often say, ‘Garbage In, Garbage Out!’

If your source water sucks, to use a term most of us definitely recognize, then without correction the water quality of any pool or spa filled with the source water will also suck.

Testing the water prior to the addition of chemicals makes total sense — unless, of course, you would rather spend money to fix problems like… staining on liners, fixtures, etc. caused by the addition of sanitizers (chlorine, bromine, etc.) which NEED to get added to the water.

Important Chemistry Lesson: Adding strong oxidizers like chlorine to water that contains dissolved metals like copper, iron, etc. may result in the formation of insoluble compounds that will settle on and stain any surfaces they encounter.

An ex-employee at an asphalt company has come forward recently with allegations that higher-ups in the company encouraged him to submit fake water samples (taken from a rainwater collection bucket) and submit them for testing by the Oregon Department of Transportation… because the higher-ups feared actual testing of their waste water stream would reveal code violations.

Nothing makes the taste of fresh, clean drinking water vanish quite like… runoff from an asphalt plant, right? Even just saying that to ourselves as we put together this blog posting turned our stomachs.

So, if unlike ourselves you actually believe all of required environmental testing gets done in the proper manner, perhaps now you will see things a bit differently and start testing your water on, at the very least, a semi-regular basis?

Think we made up this story? Not! Read the source article here.

Common water contaminants to test for?

Although far more sinister compounds and elements exist in our world that could enter our water supply (i.e. organic solvents, radioactive isotopes, etc.), we routinely suggest testing for heavy metals as a good starting point because whether you have city/municipal water or your water comes from a well or spring, metals can pretty much always — under the right circumstances — find a way into the water supply.

• Well casings typically get made out of metal.

• City/Municipal water must travel through miles of metal piping before it gets to one’s residence.

• Water extracted from wells comes in contact with rocks and soil that all contain traces of metals.

• While most homes these days contain plastic plumbing, many older homes still contain metallic plumbing (copper w/ lead-laced solder at the joints) plumbing… and metal lines get used to connect most homes (regardless of age) to the municipal water system.

What should I test for next?

After dissolved metals in water testing things get a bit murky. Pardon the expression.

Folks with well water may want to test for all sorts of things such as nitrates, nitrites, coliform bacteria (important!), hydrogen sulfide, arsenic, etc. while folks on city water may want to test for specific metals such as copper and lead, total hardness, free chlorine, total chlorine, etc.

No matter what type of water you have going into your home, school or place of business, only regular testing of the water’s quality will let you know if you have anything to worry about when it comes to the safety and purity of the water you drink.

Well, Tony, you raise a very good point. We can only say that we would HOPE municipalities used reputable third party testing agencies (which we believe they must) to perform the required testing. At some point SOMEone in the equation must have the values required to tell the truth if problems exist with a city’s water.

Assuming you can trust the water report…

Let’s say that the water reports we receive each year do tell the truth and all the reports say our water meets or exceeds Federal, State and Local guidelines for water quality — and we believe the reports accurate and factual. Does that mean we all have safe, clean drinking water coming out of our faucets?

Not by a long shot, unfortunately. Our tap water may have left the water treatment plant in perfect condition but before it reaches our homes it must travel through many miles of mixed composition plumbing (i.e. PVC, copper, cast iron, etc.) that may have gotten installed well before health regulations outlawed the use of heavy metals like lead in the solder used to connect pipes.

This means the crystal clear water produced by the water treatment plants could have picked up some unwanted drinking water contaminants along the way even though the political folks who wrote the annual drinking water quality reports told the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth.

Does this mean everyone needs a water filter?

While water filter manufacturers would LOVE for everyone to run out and purchase a water filter for their home, not everyone really does need a water filter. In fact, the vast majority of people on public water systems do NOT need water filters and have them merely for aesthetic reasons (i.e. removal of chlorine taste, removal of chlorine odor, etc.).

So… Should YOU have a water filter in your home? You will not know until you test your water — and of home drinking water test kits range from basic (4-in-1 City Water Check tests for pH, total alkalinity, total hardness, and total chlorine) to slightly more advanced (SenSafe Water Quality Test Kit tests for 14 water quality parameters).

Which water test kit will work best for you?

We have found that most people who draw their water from a municipal source typically can get by with total hardness testing, metals testing, pH testing, alkalinity testing, total chlorine testing, and/or coliform bacteria testing.

This does NOT mean, however, that some municipal water quality situations will not require more advanced testing for VOC’s and other drinking water contaminants.

Already know what you want to filter out of your water?

Next step: Determine which type of filter will work best for your application and where you want to install it (i.e. countertop, undercounter, whole house, on the shower head, on the faucet, etc.). Each location has benefits, but understand that each also has drawbacks.

So, before you plunk down you hard earned cash on a water filter for your home, school or office, make sure the type of filter you choose will do what you want it to do!

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The results of a recent study revealed that 1 in 5 Americans admitted to peeing in the pool. Keep in mind that more people probably pee in the pool and just didn’t want to admit it. Gross!

If you’re taking a refreshing dip in a pool with four other people, odds are one of you is urinating. This is not gross-out myth, but cold, depressing fact from a recent survey conducted by the Water Quality & Health Council, a scientific research group sponsored by the American Chemistry Council.

The survey, conducted in April, asked nearly 1,000 adults whether they urinate in pools. One in five bravely admitted their mistakes. And those are the ones who admitted it.

…

It is easy isn’t it? Maybe that’s because many of us were taught as kids that chlorine counteracted any accidents. Technically, that’s mostly true. If pool operators maintain proper chlorine and pH levels, most waterborne germs are killed on contact.

But 54 percent of public pools tested by the WQHC last year failed to provide the proper chlorine levels and 47 got low marks for pH balance. You can blame poor pool maintenance, but frequent urinators don’t help.

…

To find out of your pool is safe, look for some tell-tale signs of bacteria.

“Check if you see the bottom,” says Dr. Wiant. “If a pool is clear it’s likely very clean and balanced, but if it’s it cloudy or the sides are slimy, those are signs that bacteria is prevalent and the pool isn’t filtering out germs the way it should.”

Hyper-vigilant swimmers can also purchase pool test strips at any drug store and do their own scientific assessment. “They’re easy to use,” he adds, “just crack one open and dip it in the pool and you’ll be able to tell right away if the pool is clean.”

Another signal it’s time to get out of the pool: burning, stinging eyes. Although it’s not seriously harmful, when “urine combines with chlorine it becomes an irritant,” Wiant says. So if you find yourself squinting in pain after a dive, ask yourself why that person doing the backstroke in the next lane looks so relaxed. It’s not that nice of a day. ( source )

Do us all a favor, folks and PLEASE stop peeing in the pool! The Center for Disease Control has monitored pool water quality for many years now and the number of illnesses contracted from contaminated swimming pool water has increased steadily.

Some blame the increase on poorly maintained pool water but in the end it comes down to one thing in our minds: Garbage In, Garbage Out.

Shower before swimming: If everyone removed the oils and other bodily secretions from their bodies before entering the pool the chlorine and filter would have less to clean up.

Shower after swimming: Clean the pool off of you after a swim. We suggest this for two reasons: 1) Chlorine dries out your skin; 2) Perhaps a fellow swimmer, one of the 20% that admits to peeing in the pool, unknowingly had a contagious health condition that he or she passed into the water at some point. Do you REALLY want to walk around with THAT on your skin the rest of the day?

Preventative measures

Aside from showering before a swim and using the proper urine receptacles (Toilets, people! Use the toilets!) when nature calls, keeping an eye on pool water quality will go a long way towards making sure everyone has a safe, clean and enjoyable time in the pool.

Detecting a strong chlorine smell in swimming pool water does NOT always mean the water is safe. If, for example, the pH goes out of range the chlorine will not work nearly as effectively at neutralizing unwanted bacteria and other organic contaminants.

Therefore we, like the article, suggest testing pool water before diving in. Easy-to-use pool water test strips like the Pool Check 3-Way test kit give accurate, reliable water test results for free chlorine, pH and total alkalinity in under a minute.

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So what have we learned? Hopefully you have learned NOT TO PEE IN THE SWIMMING POOL ANYMORE and will urge all those around you to stop peeing in swimming pools, lakes, oceans, rivers, etc., too!

Oh, and we also suggest maintaining proper water chemistry in your pool at all times. This means you will need to TEST the pool water for critical pool water quality parameters including, but not limited to free chlorine, total chlorine, pH, and total alkalinity on a regular basis.

For that task we recommend Pool Check 5 Way Test Strips currently available in our Water Test Kit Store. This product comes in a bottle of 50 and has a total test time of less than a minute!

Testing of public pools?

While we would LOVE to think all operators of public pools keep a vigilant eye on the quality of their pool water… we worked in the pool industry for a while and came across a number of pools that LOOKED clean and tidy but had all sorts of water quality issues that could have resulted in swimmers getting sick if a harmful bacteria or parasite had found its way into the water.

Before hopping in the water you should take a minute to use a product like the Pool Check 5 Way Test Strip to make sure the water contains, at the very least, a proper amount of free chlorine.

Description: Pool water test kit accurately tests pool total chlorine and pH levels in seconds. Easy to use liquid solution kit includes test kit reagents and test cell with color comparator chart.

Every year thousands of pool owners wake up one morning around this time of year and think, “Hmmmm…. Where the #@%$ did we put that 2-way pool test kit at the end of last summer?!?”

Well, after digging through the shed, rummaging through dusty boxes in the garage and checking between various containers of pool chemicals left over from the previous year a good percentage of them suddenly realize one of several conclusions:

• The damn kids lost it again!
• My stupid husband/wife must have misplaced it again!
• I’ll KILL that mangy mutt for using my test kit as a chew toy again!
• Oops. I seem to remember something about stepping on it toward the tail end of our annual Family Labor Day Keg Party… No, no, no it must have been the kids/spouse/dog.

Regardless of WHICH situation you face this year, rest assured that we have you covered when it comes to making it easy for you to replace your stolen, lost, misplaced, chewed up, and/or stepped on (by someone else!) 2-way pool water test kit. Oh, and by ‘we’, we mean In the Swim since they carry 2-way pool test kits and our pool water test kit store does not.

But, on the other hand, if you don’t care for 2-way test kits and prefer to use something even simpler, our pool water test kit store carries a good selection of Pool Check test strips ranging from basic 3-way pool test strips to the more advanced (yet still easy to use!) 6- way pool test strips.

For additional articles dealing with pool water, please either take a trip over to Pool Water Testing Blog or check out the pool water section of our web site.

At this time we carry 100 packs of DPD-1, DPD-3 and DPD-4 in the Water Testing Blog Test Kit Store.

Differences between DPD-1, 3 and 4?

For the answer to that question, we suggest that you take a look back at one of our earlier postings called What is DPD?. Not to brag, but we think that article does a decent job of answering the question.

To sum things up, though, below you will find the most common uses for DPD-1, DPD-3 and DPD-4:

• DPD-1 — Used by itself in a water sample to determine the free chlorine concentration in the sample.

• DPD-3 — Used after DPD-1 in a water sample to determine the sample’s total chlorine concentration.

• DPD-4 — Used by itself in a water sample to determine the total chlorine concentration in the sample.

So, before purchasing DPD, you may want to verify the type of chlorine testing that you will need to do — else run the risk of accidentally purchasing the incorrect DPD reagent(s)!

Where to purchase DPD?

As we stated earlier, you can purchase 100-packs of DPD-1, DPD-3 and DPD-4 from our Water Test Kit Store.

As for where to find other forms of DPD reagents, at this time we know of places to purchase two other forms of DPD: tablets and powder.

Need a new meter to test chlorine levels, too? We suggest looking at the eXact Chlorine Photometer available on the FilterWater.Com web site. It offers the reliability of DPD-based chlorine testing and the convenience of not having to match colors against a color chart.

Want accurate chlorine test results but don’t want to deal with DPD reagents and meters? Take a look at the SenSafe Free Chlorine water Check product currently available in our Water Test Kit Store. It bears USEPA Approval for use in municipal water testing and offers superior resistance to monochloramine interference that can sometimes affect the results obtained when testing for free chlorine residual using DPD test reagents.

For the past few years Sylvan lugged 5 gallon bottles of water around and paid a ton of money each week just so that his customers didn’t have to eat food cooked in chlorine and drink water that he currently refers to as ‘pool water’.

Sylvan had his water tested by a local lab and also tested it himself (using SenSafe Free Chlorine & SenSafe Total Chlorine) and the results always showed that his water contained far less free and total chlorine than the MCL (Maximum Contaminant Level) set by the USEPA — but that certainly did nothing about the stench of chlorine in his water.

In a case like this where a whole KITCHEN in a restaurant needs better quality water we believe devices like inline filters for ice makers and undersink water filters will not get the job done.

For applications where multiple unwanted water contaminants need to get removed on a larger scale (i.e. for a restaurant’s kitchen), commercial water filters stand out as ideal filtration options.

Other places where commercial water filters make the most sense include large private residences (over 4000 sq.feet), businesses, manufacturing facilities, apartment buildings, retail establishments, and schools.