Water Quality: Testing, Filters for, and Purification of Drinking, Ground and Pool Water » Total Chlorine

Liquid Reagent Turns Yellow in Presence of Chlorine

Water Testing Blog — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 13:03:15 +0000

Today’s inquiry came to us from ‘Kishore’ who asked a question about a liquid test reagent that turned yellow when added to a sample of water containing chlorine-based water disinfection tablets.

Dear Sir, I mixed chlorine tablets(water purification Tablets) in water. my friend taken water in Test tube. mixed one drop of liquid then water color changed in yellow. what is name of that liquid. how to by that.please can sent details.

Hello, Kishore, and thank you for the inquiry about a liquid test reagent that turns yellow in the presence of chlorine. Based upon your description we suspect your friend used a chemical called ‘OTO’ to perform the testing. OTO stands for Orthotolidine dihydrochloride. It test for total chlorine (free chlorine plus combined chlorine collectively).

Pool Test Kit for Total Chlorine & pH
Using OTO and Phenol Red

You can find OTO in most pool supply stores, as it normally comes in the more basic pool water testing kits for total chlorine and pH, the two most commonly tested pool water quality parameters.

Many companies also sell the two reagents separately since they do tend to ‘go bad’ after a year once opened and exposed to air.

If you want to perform more precise chlorine concentration testing for free chlorine, the compound most people have the most interest in (usually) when attempting to determine if water has had the proper amount of disinfectant added to it, you will want to invest in a drinking water test kit that uses DPD-based reagents. ( What is DPD? )

For an even simpler means of testing the chlorine levels in water samples you may want to consider a product such as the SenSafe Free Chlorine Water Check, an EPA Approved method for determining free chlorine concentrations in drinking water, or the WaterWorks 2 Free & Total Chlorine product that uses the same free chlorine testing method as the SenSafe Free Chlorine Water Check and also includes a separate test area for total chlorine.

Want to know more about the differences between free and total chlorine? Check out an article called Free Chlorine, Combined Chlorine, Total Chlorine.

One more thing about OTO before we go: We have heard that some countries have outlawed its use due to scientists having evidence that it may cause cancer in humans… so check local laws before making a purchase!

We hope this helps!

How Can I Check to See if My Water Filter is Working?

Water Testing Blog — Sun, 02 Oct 2011 13:33:38 +0000

Anyone that has taken the initiative to install a water filter or water purification device/system in their home deserves a bit of praise… and those that continue to take an interest in the quality of their water after installing a water treatment system deserve even MORE for their efforts.

As an example, ‘J. Mampilly’ from India installed a system and now seeks to determine if he has installed the correct unit. He asked,

I would like to know about how i can confirm the effectiveness of my water purifier. Labs in India that can certify and throw light on the camparative quality of water before and after using a water purifier. Thank You

Unfortunately we do not have familiarity with water testing laboratories in India and cannot directly assist with this situation. We can suggest, however, that you contact your local health department and ask them for a list of certified water testing laboratories in your area.

Coliform Bacteria Test Kit

Before…

In order to know what type of filter or what filtering capabilities you should purchase, invest (yes, we said invest) in a thorough water analysis performed by a qualified water testing laboratory. Here, again, we suggest contacting your local board of health and asking them, for a list of certified drinking water testing labs. Alternatively, or if no labs exist in your immediate vicinity, you can use the services of accredited water testing companies such as National Testing Labs.

No matter what, though, always have your water tested BEFORE deciding on a water treatment system. Oh, and one more thing: Don’t think for one second that a salesperson doing an in-home water test has the same water testing tools or qualifications as a reputable water testing laboratory. Remember: 99% of all salespeople attempt to sell things and not accurately analyze a situation — especially if accurately diagnosing a situation could cost them a sale!

Simple Test Kit for
Total Dissolved Solids

And after!

As ‘J. Mampilly’ has done, we should ALL take an interest in comparing the quality of water that comes out of our water filter systems. Only then will we know if the money we invested in (not spent on!) a quality drinking water filter system performs as expected.

Testing water quality beforehand gives us not only an idea of what we need to filter out of our water, but also a checklist of water quality parameters to monitor post-filtration. Should follow up water testing reveal that these ‘issues’ did not get corrected or suddenly show up months after the installation of a water system, perhaps the water filter has stopped working or never really worked properly in the first place and needs service of some sort.

And in conclusion…

Many people go through life ‘deaf, dumb and blind’ when it comes to the quality of their water — until an (initially) unexplainable health problem pops into their life. Then, and unfortunately sometimes too late, those same people get very interested in the quality of their water and want to punish or otherwise penalize others for allowing them to consume tainted, polluted and/or contaminated drinking water.

Although we feel much sympathy for the victims of poor quality drinking water, most of us here in the United States have the ability to at least once every great while perform basic testing for critical water quality parameters such as heavy metals (i.e. lead, mercury, copper, iron, etc.), coliform bacteria, pesticides (i.e. atrazine and simazine), chlorine levels (free and/or total), total hardness, total dissolved solids, and many others.

Many times the contaminants in a water supply will have no taste, carry no odor and not appear before the naked eye. Only testing will alert you to their presence.

Free Chlorine Levels in Irrigation Water

Water Testing Blog — Tue, 26 Jul 2011 02:01:08 +0000

Today’s question comes from ‘Mohamed’ who asked, “How much should be the free chlorine in the irrigation water? We are treating sewage water and sending it to farm lands. What is the international standard of the irrigation water in respect to free chlorine?”

WaterWorks 2 Free & Total Chlorine Test Kit

We do not know of an International Standard for free chlorine levels in irrigation water but we do know that most States in the US require wastewater treatment plants to neutralize TOTAL chlorine levels before discharging water into the environment and that wastewater treatment facilities must test for total chlorine residuals in their effluent streams on a regular basis to make sure the chlorine concentrations stay virtually non-existent.

Why worry about chlorine in the environment?

If allowed to enter the environment chlorine can and will effectively kill or damage biological organisms that it comes in contact with. In great enough concentrations chlorine will wipe out all plant life in a body of water as well as any animals or fish in the water.

We use chlorine to render safe (i.e. KILL) biological contaminants in our drinking water and if released into a natural habitat the chlorine will render safe (i.e. KILL) any and all plant an animal life until it loses its effectiveness.

Testing for free & total chlorine?

Whether you prefer test strips, wet chemistry kits or a water testing meter… you have plenty of choices when it comes to testing for both free and total chlorine levels in drinking and treated waste water.

eXact Chlorine Photometer

EPA Approved Free Chlorine Test

Taylor Fas – Dpd Titration

Filter to Remove Chloramines

Water Testing Blog — Fri, 22 Jul 2011 13:03:09 +0000

Do not let a clever sales pitch or catchy marketing jingle fool you. Many common drinking water filter systems do NOTHING to remove or reduce chloramines in water. They simply lack the technology in their filtration media to do so.

We mentioned this filter (the Pentek ChlorPlus) in the past and now feel the need to mention it again since we continue to receive inquiries from people asking why their water filters fail to remove all of the chlorine smell from their water.

The majority of water filters readily available in the marketplace do NOT remove chloramines, also known as combined chlorine. Most carbon filters remove free chlorine only. It takes a specialized type of filter like the Pentek ChlorPlus to cleanse water of unwanted chloramines.

Does my water contain chloramines?

Whether your municipal water system uses free chlorine or chloramines as its primary sanitizing agent we cannot say, but in either case your water will certainly contain chloramines. Unsure why? Take a look at this brief tutorial on free chlorine, total chlorine and combined chlorine.

That’s just a cartridge… What sort of housing does it go in?

A very keen observation followed by a very good question! The Pentek ChlorPlus filter for chloramine removal fits in most standard sized 10″ (by 2.5″) filter housings including, but not limited to, models manufactured by companies like Pentek, Ametek, US Filter, Bruner, American Plumber, Cuno, Filterite, Keystone, Water Resources and most Harmsco filter housings.

As always before purchasing a replacement cartridge for your water filter system, check, double check and TRIPLE check to make sure your housing will accommodate the filter cartridge you wish to buy!

Monkey Business at the Wastewater Treatment Plant?

Water Testing Blog — Sat, 16 Jul 2011 13:03:26 +0000

While we do like to hear that the legal system has taken an interest in prosecuting those who threaten the safety and potability of water supplies, public or private, through acts of negligence or on purpose, it still bothers us that people would actually do things on purpose that could put the water supply of others at risk.

Single Dip Method Free & Total Chlorine
Test Strips w/ 0 to 5ppm Detection Range

Today we stumbled across an article from a Chicago area paper talking about how a Federal Judge must decide whether or not a water company and also two of its employees should face charges for allegedly raising free chlorine levels intentionally right before taking readings and then allowing them to drop to potentially unsafe levels at other times throughout the day.

In the spirit of allowing both sides to present their case, we will post the entire article… which left us with more than one nagging question.

A federal judge has delayed ruling on whether to dismiss criminal charges claiming United Water Services tampered with water testing at the Gary Sanitary District.

Attorneys for United Water argued during a hearing Tuesday morning at the U.S. District Court in Hammond that the government’s indictment doesn’t actually cite any illegal activity.

The company, as well as two of its former employees, Gregory Ciaccio and Dwain Bowie, are charged with raising chlorine levels just before daily samples were taken for tests then lowering it again after the samples were taken to amounts not strong enough to properly kill off E. coli bacteria.

United Water operated the GSD from 1998 until last year.

However, Steven Solow, attorney for United Water, argued during the hearing on a motion to dismiss that the GSD’s wastewater permit allowed for the company to raise and lower chlorine levels. “Those are not improper things to do,” Solow argued.

He added that United Water would increase the chlorine levels in the morning, which is when the samples were taken, because people use more water in the morning and that every waste water treatment plant in the world changes its chlorine levels throughout the day.

However, David Mucha, an attorney with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, argued that United Water’s actions did violate its permit. The daily samples are supposed to represent what the water is like at the plant during that day, not just at that instant in time, Mucha said.

“This case is very simple,” Mucha said. “They altered normal operations at the time of sampling.”

If the sample doesn’t represent all the water at the plant on the day of the sample, then it’s useless, he said.

He also dismissed Solow’s argument that raising and lowering the chlorine levels weren’t illegal. Mucha said that done on their own, each was fine but that they became illegal when coupled with being done right before and after tests were taken. He likened it to how people can legally drink and can legally drive but can’t legally drive drunk.

Further, Mucha said, the government has to prove only that a person knowingly tampered with water samples for a conviction. U.S. law does not require any other provision.

U.S. District Judge Rudy Lozano recessed the hearing to look at the permit and filings. Mary Hatton, spokeswoman for the U.S. Attorneys office, said that a ruling likely wouldn’t come until after Aug. 1 because of deadlines for a filing by the defense. ( source )

Our first question…

… deals with the frequency of testing: “Why did the plant only need to test in the mornings?”

Our second questions deals with the real results of the raising chlorine levels (supposedly) to pass inspection and then lowering them to potentially unsafe levels: “Did anyone get sick or suffer any form of harm as a result of these actions?”

Don’t get us wrong based upon that second question. We just want to know more about how these folks got caught. If someone got sick as a result of what the water company did, then this case would have ended in a guilty verdict without the need for the judge to deliberate longer… right?

Bitter truth about public water systems?

While few people would argue that the United States of America, when examined as a whole, has one of the most technologically advanced network of public water distribution systems in the world. This does not, however, mean that all of the systems do all of the testing they should at all the right times.

The article above, as well as articles we’ve read over the years about public officials and private firms fabricating water test results in an effort to save money, makes us leery of our great system… yet grateful as heck that for the most part our greatest fears about our public water supply deal mostly with ‘minor’ breaches in protocol rather than instances of blatant disregard for the maintaining of sanitary practices in our water treatment facilities.

Testing for chlorine in drinking water at home?

Do average people have the ability to keep tabs on the amount of chlorine in their drinking water? Absolutely! Companies like WaterSafe and SenSafe make reliable, accurate and completely affordable test kits for detecting levels of both free and total chlorine in tap/drinking water.

All in One Water Test Kit

Chlorine and Hardness Test Kit

Well Water Test Kit

Home Water Testing Labs in Arizona

Water Testing Blog — Fri, 15 Jul 2011 13:03:50 +0000

Recently a gentleman by the name of ‘Albert’ contacted us to see if we had any information on water testing labs in Tucson, AZ.

Though we did not know the names of any specific labs in his area, we did provide him with some useful resources that could certainly help him find a qualified water testing lab in his area.

Good morning, Albert, and thank you for your inquiry regarding water testing labs in Arizona. Hopefully we can help you to locate a suitable home water testing lab in your area.

We first suggest taking a look at the EPA Web Site, specifically the page containing information about local water quality issues in Arizona. This page also contains contact information for the Arizona’s Drinking Water Offices… excellent sources of information on where to turn for certified drinking water analysis! See below for the link:

http://water.epa.gov/drink/local/az.cfm

Directly related to your question, however, the Arizona Department of Health Services Web Site has an online listing of labs in your area on the following page:

http://www.azdhs.gov/lab/license/env.htm

We hope this will at least point you in the right direction!

Best regards,

- Water Testing Blog Staff

For those of you NOT hailing from the Arizona area, the following web page will provide you with links to resources in other US States: http://water.epa.gov/drink/local/

Popular home water test kits?

As always, we suggest calling upon the services of certified water testing professionals if you have doubts about the safety of your water supply. At-home drinking water test kits do, however, give average home and business owners the power to keep an eye on basic drinking water parameters (i.e. heavy metals like lead, free chlorine, total chlorine, pH, hardness, etc.) whose levels, if seen fluctuating dramatically, could indicate the presence of issues requiring further investigation by a certified water testing lab like National Testing Laboratories or local water testing lab.

Childcare Water Kit

Free Chlorine Water Test

Ida’s Iron Check

Arsenic Quick Test Kit

Arsenic Quick Test Mini-Kit

Bacteria Check Test Kit

LEADQuick Paint Home Test Kit

Manganese Check Water Test Kit

Mercury Check Water Test Kit

Total Hardness Test Kit

Water Metals Test Kit

Water Quality Test Kit

Well Drillers Test Kit — Master

Well Drillers Test Kit –Standard

eXact Micro 7+ Pool Test Kit

eXact Micro 7+ Water Test Kit

Ammonia Aquarium Test

Nitrate/Nitrate Test Kit

Chlorine Testing Meter for Swimming Pool?

Water Testing Blog — Fri, 01 Jul 2011 13:03:03 +0000

As we expected, the number of questions we received recently about swimming pool water has definitely increased. Today’s inquiry comes from a Water Testing Blog reader who hails from Pakistan and he/she asked:

Dear Sir/Madam,
hope you will be fine.i need some information regarding digital chlorine tester for swimming pool water .i read about extech cl200 testing metre.kindly send me the literature and price for it .
thanks
an early response is appreciable
farhan

Now before any of you go and criticize this person’s grammatical skills when typing in English, think more about the person’s commitment to keeping a proper chlorine level in swimming pool and the time it took to submit a question to this site.

ExTech CL200 Total Chlorine
Testing Meter for Water

ExTech CL203 Total Chlorine
Test Reagent Tablets

WE commend ‘Farhan’ for his/her efforts and for transcending the language barrier to ask a question about proper chlorine testing in pool water.

On the topic of the “Extech 1200C” for chlorine testing in pool water, we took a look at the ExTech web site and did not find a meter in the chlorine/fluoride in water detection called the ‘Extech 1200C’… so we found ourselves a bit puzzled by your question.

We DID, however, see the ExTech CL200 Chlorine Testing Meter which uses Extech (CL203) Exstik ExTab™ Chlorine Reagent Tablets, a undoubtedly a proprietary blend of DPD-1 & DPD-3 reagents, to test for ONLY total chlorine concentrations in water.

The obvious problem we see with this meter for pool water testing, despite its USEPA credentials for total chlorine testing (in waste water), deal with the meter’s INability to test for free chlorine concentrations in water.

Proper Pool Water Testing Requires Free AND Total Chlorine Testing!

That heading said it all. Proper pool water care requires both free AND total chlorine testing.

Why? Quite simply, it does little good for the sanitation of a pool to have an in-range total chlorine reading with a very low, or non-existent, free chlorine reading. When that happens the pool contains mostly, if not entirely, chloramines (aka: combined/used chlorine molecules) which possess very little (limited) oxidizing power… and limited oxidizing power means limited sanitizing capabilities.

Improperly sanitized pool water can EASILY become a home in which various bacteria, parasites and viral ‘issues’ which will flourish, breed and infect swimmers if left unchecked.

Repeated Moral of the Story

Invest in a meter that test for both total chlorine concentrations AND free chlorine concentrations.

We suggest using a meter like the eXact Micro 7+ Pool & Spa Meter because it tests for not only free AND total chlorine, but also for Total Alkalinity, Bromine, Calcium Hardness, Copper, Ozone, Permanganate, and pH… all with the same meter!

Earlier we talked about the Extech’s USEPA credentials so naturally we figure you want to know if the eXact Micro 7+ Meter has credentials, too — and it does! When used with DPD chemistry (and the appropriate procedures, of course) the meter qualifies as an EPA Compliant device for testing free an total chlorine in drinking water.

“But Wait! There’s More!” Screamed the Announcer

As an added bonus, the eXact Micro 7+ Pool Meter also has the ability to test for 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 — when operated in ‘% Transmission’ mode with the appropriate eXact Micro 7+ Reagent Strips.

eXact Micro 7+ Pool Testing Meter

eXact Micro 7+ ReagentStrips

Question: Why is My Lawn Yellow?

Water Testing Blog — Wed, 15 Jun 2011 01:01:12 +0000

Today’s question comes from a woman in Illinois named ‘Gretchen246′ who asked a very interesting question… about her lawn.

“Why is my lawn green? A healthy lawn is the sign of a healthy home and my lawn is yellow. Allthe lawns here are yellow and we all fertilize and feed and do all we’resupposed to but the lawns are still yellow. Could it be the water?”

Sad to say, but the little kid in us wants to say, ” Gretchen, your neighborhood needs a leash law to keep wandering dogs from peeing all over your lawns!” Ha ha. Yep. The kid in us has not, yet, grown up all the way… and we hope it never does!

On a more serious note, if every lawn in your neighborhood has the same issue (bad grass), then it stands to reason that all of your lawns have at least SOMEthing in common. Typically all yards in a development will share a similar soil type (i.e. composition, pH, etc.), environmental conditions (rainfall, amount of sunlight, etc.) and quality of water used to keep them hydrated.

Since we know very little about soil we will pass on the opportunity to discuss that topic and move in for the kill on a topic we DO know something about: Water. Since you say your lawns stay yellow, a sure sign of a dead or dying lawn, perhaps your lawns don’t particularly care for something in the water?

As our first guess, we cast our vote for chlorine. Most municipal water systems use a form of chlorine to keep biological contaminants from growing in the water and water lines. Once out of the water line, however, chlorine will continue to wage war on biological organism… like the grass in your lawn.

Chlorine in my water?

How do you know if your tap water contains chlorine? Perform a simple test for chlorine using a product such as the WaterWorks 2 Free & Total Chlorine Test Strip. We like this product because it provides reliable test results for both free and total chlorine concentrations in water at the same time and in just a few minutes.

There’s chlorine in my water… Now what?

Well if the chlorine poses a problem (i.e. it kills your grass!) then we heartily suggest removing it from the water you use on your lawn. The products below from Gar’n'Gro should have the ability to help with that task.

Gard’n'Gro Chlorine Removal Filter	Pre-Filter for Gard’n'Gro Filter
Replacement Gard’n'Gro Chlorine Filter	Replacement Gard’n'Gro Pre-Filter

For those interesting removing chlorine from their drinking water, you may want to consider installing a simple, yet effective, faucet filter such as the Crystal Quest W2 in your kitchen.

Electronic Pool Testing Meter

Water Testing Blog — Fri, 20 May 2011 14:06:17 +0000

As usual the warmer weather (in most of the US) has brought out the folks who have questions about pool water and how best to take care of it. Today’s question comes from ‘ActionLassie007′ who asked,

eXact Micro 7+
Pool Testing Meter

“Do they make meters for pool testing that regular people can afford? Last yr our poolguy had a meter and I asked him how much it cost. He told me one thousand and some change. He lie to me so I would not go get one and he loses a customer?”

Wow. Interesting situation, right? Personally we’d have fired the guy for telling an outlandish lie. Yeah, sure, SOME equipment used to test pool water MAY cost upwards of a thousand dollars or more, but would the average pool maintenance person REALLY spend that kind of money? We doubt it.

We suggest, Lassie, that you take a look at the eXact Micro 7+ Pool Water Testing Meter… which costs well under a thousand dollars, by the way.

Pool & Spa News
Readers’ Choice Award Winner

Combining the reliability and repeatability of a photometer w/ the dependability of proven chemistry methods such as DPD (for chlorine testing) and phenol red (for pH testing), the eXact Micro 7+ Pool Testing Meter puts the power of accurate water testing into the hands of the people who need it most: pool owners.

A definite advantage offered by this particular pool meter: Versatility. The pool testing meter tests for 7 critical pool water parameters directly and with the use of a conversion chart and correct reagentstrip it can test for a number of other water parameters, as well.

What comes in pool water test kit?

In the basic kit you will find everything you need to test for free chlorine, total chlorine, pH, calcium hardness, total alkalinity, dissolved copper, and cyanuric acid.