Today's inquiry came to us from 'Sir Lawrence' who asked, "I'm considering the EZ Cult Bacteria test and need to know Does this test (or any test you know of) test for numbers of total coliforms?  In other words, a test that will give the level of contamination rather than just whether or not coliforms are present?"

The test kit we carry ( EZ Cult Bacteria) gives presence/absence results only and therefore does not indicate the overall coliform bacteria contamination level in a water sample.

A company called Aquagenx ( www.aquagenx.com) makes a test kit that gives a more quantitative result.  We do not currently carry that product but we believe you can purchase it through their web site or by calling them.

What's the big deal about coliform bacteria?

The presence of coliform bacteria in a water supply may mean the water supply has become contaminated by the solid waste of a warm-blooded mammal.  While not all coliform bacteria pose a risk to human health -- especially in small quantities -- finding coliform bacteria in a water supply does give good reason to immediately stop using the water and have it tested for specific coliform species like E. Coli that do pose a serious risk to human health.

We saw a post on Facebook recently that showed internal pictures of pipes allegedly from Flint, MI accompanied by the following text: "Instead of putting new oil pipelines in North Dakota, let's put new water lines in Flint."

For those who think Flint, MI exists as the ONLY place in the United States where this sort of water contamination happens (DAILY), please turn off reality TV and pay attention for just a moment. Aging infrastructure exists in EVERY state and the overall deterioration of the country's water quality affects EVERY person in this country whether they draw water from a private well OR get it from a municipal water supply.

Oh, and one more thing: A Huge Amount of Bottled Water Comes from Municipal Water Supplies, not Secret, Pristine, Untouched by the World, Underground Water Sources.

You may now return to your regularly scheduled, mind erasing celebrity & pop star of the day nauseating drivel. Happy Friday, everyone!

WaterSafe Well Water Test Kit

WaterSafe City Water Test Kit

Lead in Water Test

We recently heard from 'Nate' who asked, "I did the simple coliform test for 48 hr. I noted @ 46 hr (77F) the sample was yellow as it had been from the start; I did not note the color @ 48hr time. Then this morning @ 58 hr, the sample was a little more (very light) blue or green. Will it continue to change, or does it stabilize? I thought my sample was going to be clean, but now I'm not so sure. What do you think? Thanks"

We've posed questions like yours to the manufacturer several times in the past and they always come back w/ a response along the lines of: "If a test was carried out properly, then the test results obtained at the end of the test period should be valid. Results read after the test period are not within the scope of this test."

In other words, they feel that if the test did not yield indication of a problem at the end of 48 hours and all instructions were followed to the letter, then the water ought not pose a threat... as far as bacteria is concerned.

How often should I test my water for bacteria?

As a general rule most well water professionals and health officials suggest testing your water for coliform bacteria at least once a year providing no natural or unnatural events have taken place during the year that threatened the wellhead or caused the wellhead to become unsealed.

Natural events include flooding that covers the wellhead and unexpected changes in water color, taste or odor that seemingly have no root cause.

Unnatural events include someone bumping into the wellhead with a lawn tractor and someone intentionally opening the wellhead to perform repairs.

About EZ Coliform Cult Test

The EZ Coliform Cult (MUG) Test gives homeowners and water professionals the ability to get accurate coliform bacteria test results for a water sample in 24 to 48 hours.

In the presence of coliform bacteria, the media (powder in the test container) turns blue-green and detects down to the USEPA limit of 1 coliform per 100 mL sample. Additionally, users of this test want to confirm the presence of E. Coli, illuminating the sample with blue fluorescent lighting (UV light) or adding a Kovacs reagent makes that possible.

• Detects the EPA limit of 1 cfu (coliform unit) per 100 milliliters of sample water.
• Easy and safe test procedure.
• No laboratory equipment required.

What Should I Do If My Water Tests Positive for Coliform Bacteria?

Stop using the water right away and have the water tested by a certified water testing laboratory. Then, depending upon the results, you may find that you need to invest in a water filtration system capable of rendering the bacteria incapable of reproducing (see UV Water Sterilizer) or removing it altogether (see Ceramic Water Filters).

We recently learned that the Allegan Conservation District in Allegan County (Michigan) will distribute free test kits for nitrates and nitrites to landowners from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Saturday, April 23, at the Allegan County Area Technical and Education Center, 2891 116th Ave. in Allegan.

This free water test kit offer comes to you courtesy of the Michigan Department of Agriculture and Rural Development through the Michigan Agriculture Environmental Assurance Program with the Allegan Conservation District.

Why test for nitrates?

While not considered a substantial health risk in lower quantities and concentrations, as they occur naturally in many foods and get used to preserve and cure meat products, but concentrations in excess of 10 mg/L (1 mg/L = 1 part per million) in drinking water pose a health risk to young children under the age of 6 months old, expecting mothers, nursing mothers, and the elderly.

Why 10 mg/L?

The United States Environmental Protection Agency set the ‘action’ limit for nitrates in drinking water at 10 mg/L, meaning a public water system would need to immediately take steps to reduce nitrate concentrations in the water

Due to most water well contamination by nitrates and nitrites coming from surface runoff, shallow wells therefore stand the greatest chance of having higher than acceptable levels of nitrates and nitrites. Health officials and well water professionals typically suggest that all drinking water obtained from wells get tested annually for — at the very least — nitrates, nitrites, and coliform bacteria.

Also, if you just had a new well installed, or work done on your existing water well, you should have the water tested prior to using water from the well for drinking or cooking purposes.

For more information on the free water testing offer in Allegan County, Michigan, you can visit their web site www.allegancd.org or you can contact Ana at at 269-673-6940, ext. 5.

Source http://www.mlive.com/wayland/index.ssf/2016/04/free_water_testing_will_be_off.html

Recently we received an inquiry from 'Peggy' who asked, " I'm not certain which test kit to order, I use well water. Do I do the testing in my home or is this a kit I mail in to get results?"

Thank you, Peggy, for your inquiry.  At this time we offer two types of water test kits for home use:

• DIY (do it yourself) water test kits produced by companies like SenSafe and WaterSafe.
  
• Mail in water testing packages from National Testing Laboratories.

If you do not suspect anything terribly wrong with your water and you just want to get a general idea of your basic water quality situation, then a do-it-yourself kit should do the trick.

If, on the other hand, you want to get a more precise idea of what's going on with your water, one that includes tests for things an at-home test cannot detect, then using a mail-in testing services make more sense.

We also suggest using mail-in water test services for the purpose of determining what sort of water treatment system, if any, a person should install.

DIY advantages?

With a DIY home water test kit you can test for basic water quality parameters and get results in minutes. Kits of this nature work very well as a simple screening method designed to alert homeowners to potential water quality issues.

DIY Disadvantages?

While kits of this nature offer fast results and low cost, they cannot test for a number of potential water contaminants that concern a lot of people these days (i.e. Disinfection byproducts like THM's, volatile organic compounds like benzene, etc.)

Additionally, due to the simplicity of DIY water testing methods, most tests give a general idea of contamination based on visual comparison of test strips or sample colors to color charts... which means the element of human interpretation exists and could lead to 'off' readings.

Mail-in advantages?

First of all, water submitted for testing via a mail-in method should get analyzed in a qualified, accredited water testing laboratory using properly calibrated equipment so no human interpretation should skew test results.

Since laboratory grade equipment does the analysis, results obtained from mail-in testing services have a much higher degree of accuracy and precision than DIY home water testing methods.

We should note here, however, that we ALWAYS suggest having a home's water tested by a qualified water testing laboratory prior to making a substantial significant investment in a home water treatment system.

Mail-in disadvantages?

Along with greater accuracy, more possible tests performed, and the peace of mind that comes with using a qualified water testing laboratory... comes a higher cost for the testing.

Most mail-in water testing services offer packages that include just the 'basics' (pH, bacteria, nitrates, nitrites, hardness, alkalinity, etc.) all the way up to packages that test for the 'basics' and hundreds of metals, VOC's (volatile organic compounds), etc.

The more things you want to test for, the more expensive the mail-in water test kit.

What is the BEST water test kit?

Anyone that claims to have 'the best water test kit' for all water quality situations... wants to sell you the kit they have in their hand.

Every water quality situation has unique characteristics that make it impossible for 'one kit to rule them all' so we suggest taking a general approach to water testing and testing for as many parameters and contaminants as you can so you can get a baseline reading of your actual water quality situation. Then, if specific areas require attention, you can perform follow up testing using a local laboratory.

Only THEN do we suggest weighing options of water quality filtration systems and deciding which water treatment option makes the most sense.

WaterSafe City Water Test Kit

COMPLETE Water Quality Test Kit - 13 Parameters

COMPLETE Water Test Kit w/ Lead & Pesticide Tests

Today's inquiry came to us from 'JenKelli' who asked, "Hi, our well water has hydrogen sulfide in it according to neighbors and we used your arsenic quick test kit which says it has trouble reading arsenic if hydrogen sulfide is present.  Can we trust the results or do we need to use a different arsenic test?"

Thank you for your question, JenKelli.  The Arsenic Quick line of water test kits has a hydrogen sulfide neutralizing step in it procedure that will negate the effects of up to 2ppm (parts per million) dissolved hydrogen sulfide gas.  If you had 2 ppm hydrogen sulfide gas in your water, the water would STINK like rotten eggs so the fact that your neighbors had to tell you the water contained hydrogen sulfide indicates to us that the Arsenic Quick test procedure more than likely handled any H₂S gas present.

Testing for hydrogen sulfide gas?

As we just mentioned, dissolved hydrogen sulfide gas imparts a nasty rotten egg smell to water and can easily get picked up by the human nose at low concentrations.

The  Low Range H₂S Test Kit detects concentrations of H₂S from 0 to 2ppm (mg/L) with its first increment down at 0.3ppm (mg/L). Unlike other H₂S tests that use a 'fizzing agent' to liberate gas from a water sample so that it can get detected, this test procedure changes the color of the sample in direct proportion to the concentration of dissolved H₂S in the aqueous sample without having to generate additional potentially unpleasant odors.

The color of the sample then gets compared to a visual color chart designed specifically for this water quality test.

For the purpose of arsenic testing with an Arsenic Quick Test Kit, if your water appears to contain greater than 2ppm dissolved hydrogen sulfide gas, that contaminant poses a threat to the accuracy of the test results.

Got a rotten egg or sulfur smell in your water?  Want it gone?

Before investing in a system to remove dissolved hydrogen sulfide gas you must first determine the concentration of the gas in your water so you can select the correct water treatment system. Otherwise you run the risk of purchasing too little remediation for the job or wasting money on a system that has far more hydrogen sulfide gas removal capabilities than your water quality situation requires.

Learn more about dissolved hydrogen sulfide gas in water, how to test for it, and how to remove it in the Hydrogen Sulfide Archives section of the Water Testing Blog!

Or, if you already know how much of the contaminant you have and want to check out water filters designed to specifically remove hydrogen sulfide gas from your water, we suggest FilterWater.Com as a good place to start.  Note:  Filter systems that reduce hydrogen sulfide also typically reduce iron concentrations in water.

This morning we received an inquiry from 'Colina' who asked, " Hi.  I have an impatient know it all boss and while I was on vacation last week he ordered several bottles of your 481026 SenSafe Free Chlorine Water Check which we can use for most of our testing, but not ALL of our testing because some of our water samples have higher than 6ppm free chlorine in them.  He SHOULD have ordered the 480023 Free Chlorine Product like have in the past.  Is there a way we can still make the stuff he ordered work or do we have to return it and buy the right bottles like he should have in the first place?  Thanks in advance for your help!"

And we thank YOU, Colina, and your boss for all your business!  Regarding the two products, both detect concentrations of free chlorine in water samples and as you know, the  SenSafe 481026 product detects up to 6ppm and the WaterWorks 480023 product detects up to 25ppm.

Dilution method

To use the strips you have, you will need to use a dilution method.  Below you will find two examples of how to properly dilute a sample and back calculate the free chlorine concentration.

NOTE:  Make sure you use distilled or other water known to possess a zero chlorine concentration for dilutions.

• 1 part distilled water + 1 part water sample ... Perform a test using a test strip ... If you get a reading on the strip that matches one in the strip's color chart range, multiply that reading by (2) two to get the actual concentration of chlorine in your water sample.
• 2 parts distilled water + 1 part water sample ... Perform a test using a test strip ... If you get a reading on the strip that matches one in the strip's color chart range, multiply that reading by (3) three to get the actual concentration of chlorine in your water sample.

As a general rule we always suggest having the proper tool for any testing job.  Therefore we carry WaterWorks & SenSafe brands of water test strips for chlorine testing with varying detection ranges:

• Ultra low, low, high, and ultra high range free & total chlorine testing products

SenSafe Free Chlorine Water Check Detects 0 - 6 ppm

SenSafe Total Chlorine Test Strips Detect 0 - 10ppm

WaterWorks 2 Free & Total Chlorine Test Strips

Another year has passed and the founder of Water Testing Blog & Water Test Kit Store will age another year in a few days.  In honor of Mike's turning the ripe OLD age of 44, and so that he gets reminded of it constantly for the next few days, please feel free to use discount code  MIKE44  in the Water Test Kit Store to receive 12% of your next order!

That's right, enter discount code  MIKE44  at check out to save yourself 12% regardless of order size!

Yep.  Mike's turning 44 in a few days and we want him to feel EVERY minute of it (and then some!), so MIKE44 will remain active until 4/19/16.

• Water Test Kit Store (www.WaterTestKitStore.com)

I hope he doesn't fire us for this...  Ha ha.  Happy Birthday, Mike!

We recently learned that the McHenry County Department of Health (located in Illinois) intends to offer a discounted water testing package to local homeowners with private water wells in the month of April 2016. The package will include a test for coliform bacteria and nitrates for a cost of $18.

Why test my well water?

Many potentially harmful well water contaminants have no taste, color or odor and may enter aquifers from which drinking water wells without notice. Municipal water supplies that draw from the same aquifers as local private water wells perform regular tests on their water (as mandated by law) so any changes would get noticed and corrected immediately where as no laws mandate testing of private wells… meaning private well owners would continue using contaminated water because they did not know of water quality issues.

How does well water contamination occur?

Despite the fact that wells draw their water from sources hundreds or possibly thousands of feet below the Earth’s surface, any source of contamination on the Earth’s surface can eventually makes its way into our subterranean water sources.

Potential sources of surface contamination that can trickle into our water supply include animal waste (pick up after your dogs, people!), wastewater from industry, sewer and sewage system overflows, tainted storm water runoff (don’t dump things into the sewers, people!), excessive fertilizer use in agriculture and on lawns, and in some cases pollutants come right out of Nature itself (examples: metals, arsenic, radon, uranium, etc.)

OK, so how do I get my water tested in McHenry County?

First, pick up a sterile water sampling container from one of the participating locations listed below. Then, return samples for testing on Tuesdays in April between 9 AM and noon at one of the same locations. Note: We suggest collecting your sample on the same day as you intend to drop it off for testing.

• Algonquin Township Office, 3702 Route 14, Crystal Lake, (847)639-2329
• Dorr Township Office, 1039 Lake St., Woodstock, (815) 338-0125
• McHenry County Dept. of Health, 2200 N. Seminary Ave., Woodstock (815) 334-4585
• McHenry County Dept. of Health, 100 N. Virginia St., Crystal Lake (815) 459-5151
• McHenry Township Office, 3703 Richmond Road, McHenry (accepting samples from 8 AM to 4 PM Monday – Wednesday; and 8 AM to Noon on Thursdays) (815) 385-5605
• Nunda Township Office, 3510 Bay Road, Crystal Lake, (815) 459-4011
• City of Marengo, City Hall, 134 E. Prairie St., Marengo, (815) 568-7112
• Harvard Police Department, 201 W. Front St., Harvard, (815) 943-4431
• Richmond Township Office, 7812 S. Route 31, Richmond, (815) 678-0077
• Grafton Township Office, 10109 Vine St., Huntley, (847) 669-3328

Source: http://www.dailyherald.com/article/20160401/submitted/160409879/

What if I want my water tested… but I live elsewhere?

Not all discounted (or free!) water testing opportunities offered by departments of health and other agencies get publicized as much as they should so we recommend contacting your local health department directly to see what they may offer.

For those interested in performing water testing on their own well or tap water, we offer a wide variety of DIY water test kits in the Water Test Kit Store.

Each time we turn on the news or flip through articles in a news feed we see article after article about cities, villages and towns of all sizes 'suddenly realizing' they may lead contamination in their drinking water... but we see another problem:  Everyone's looking for someone to blame or hold accountable, but not enough folks offer the average citizen simple information on the situation.  We'd like to change that.

WaterSafe Lead in Water Test Kit

How do they know lead's in the water?

Simple testing for lead should take place on water distributed by public water systems on a regular basis.

How much lead in drinking water is harmful to me?

Pretty much all water quality experts agree that drinking water with lead concentrations of 15ppb (parts per billion) or more should not get consumed by pregnant women or children.

Drinking water that contains lead concentration up to15ppb should get filtered if native to the water supply or flushed with cold water if it comes from a building's plumbing, fixtures, faucets, etc.

Where did the lead come from?

OK, so we (now) know lead in drinking water not only exists, but that it definitely poses a larger threat to the general population than many people imagined.  So where did the lead come from?

• Banned in the mid-1980's and not widely used since before World War II, lead pipes ran through older buildings.
• Banned at around the same time as lead plumbing in homes, the solder used to connect copper tubing used in plumbing often contained high levels of lead.
• Older fixtures, fittings, and valves made of brass sometimes contained lead.
• If water mains and/or plumbing leading to a faucet contain lead, the possibility exists that bits and flakes of lead may break loose and get caught in the faucet's screen.
• For a long time water mains running from water treatment plants to homes, schools and businesses contained lead -- and some still do.
• Many drinking water fountains manufactured before the late 1980's contained lead components.

While the above methods by which lead may enter the tap water of a home, school, or business represent the most common sources of lead contamination, please keep in mind that other means of contamination may exist, as well.

How can I tell if plumbing in my older home is made of lead?

When scratched, a lead pipe will appear shiny at the location of the scratch while the rest of the pipe usually has a dull gray color.

SenSafe Heavy Metals Water Check

I have well water and PVC plumbing... so am I safe?

Not necessarily.  Lead occurs naturally in the environment so well water experts suggest periodic testing for lead in well water along with other critical water quality parameters.

If no 'events' threaten the integrity if a well, then many well water experts believe annual testing for critical water quality parameters (like dissolved lead) should suffice.

Is testing for lead in water expensive?

No, not really.  A basic DIY water test kit for dissolved lead in water from WaterSafe costs less than $15 and takes just a few minutes to perform.

BUT, should a basic test kit indicate the potential presence of dangerous levels of lead in your water, laboratory testing to determine the full extent of lead contamination will cost a bit more.

And if a simple test shows I have lead in my water?

If you test your water and get a positive result for lead, then we suggest having your water tested by a qualified water testing laboratory so that you can determine the extent of contamination and begin your search for the appropriate water treatment system.  Sites like Filter-Drinking-Water.Com, FilterWater.Com, and FiltersFast.Com offer selections of filters that efficiently reduce quantities of lead and other unwanted heavy metals in drinking water.

Manganese in Water Test

Arsenic in Water Test Kit

Cyanide in Water Test Kit