At the suggestion of friends we changed our chlorine pool late last year to a ionizer pool that uses minerals to keep the water clear. I saw a copper test kit on the [ censored ] web site and got scared by the big warning that it contained hazardous chemicals. We are supposed to test the copper levels and don’t want to bring dangerous chemicals (we have small children) into our home. Do you know a better option?

Thank you for this question, Mya, and yes, we do know of an alternative to (what we refer to as) traditional wet chemistry test kits for copper that use potentially hazardous test reagents. We suggest you take a look at the Pool Check Copper 3-Way Test Strip which not only tests for dissolved copper, but also tests for pH and alkalinity at the same time.

How does the Copper 3-Way compare to the wet kit?

For starters, it requires no MSDS (which means no potentially harmful chemicals).

It also tests for, as we previously stated, pH and alkalinity — two very critical pool water parameters you will want to keep an eye on if using a mineralizer/ionizer on your pool. If the levels of either get too far out of line you may begin to see staining (caused by precipitating minerals) appearing your pool!

Another benefit deals with the fact that the Copper 3-Way detects as little as 0.2ppm dissolved copper while the wet chemistry test kit bottoms out at 0.5ppm.

And as for cost — a major concern for most people these days — the Copper 3-Way product has a fairly low cost of around $12 whereas the wet chemistry test kit mentioned by Mya had a cost of around $37.

Regardless of which water testing option you choose, it matters most that you have decided to actively test the quality of your pool water… and obviously everyone already KNOWS that we feel regular testing of water in our lives will help keep people safe from unexpected (and unwanted!) illness caused by bacteria, parasites, and other water contaminants.

Testing for copper in source (i.e well, tap or surface) water?

Copper occurs naturally in the environment and dissolves (to some extent… slowly) into water when the two come in contact with one another. Therefore one could easily expect to find traces of dissolved copper (Cu⁺¹ & Cu⁺²) in ground water, well water, and even city water (older water infrastructures still may contain copper piping).

If you wonder whether or not you can use the Pool Check Copper 3-Way to test for copper in water sources such as well water or tap water, technically you can, but we suspect that the manufacturer factored in warmer water when calibrating the color change reaction on the test pads with that corresponding color chart.

Do not fret, though, because SenSafe manufactures a product called John’s Copper for testing colder water samples like well water, surface water and tap water.

Copper/Silver Ionizer

Back in the old days people used only one of two things to keep their pool water safe, clean and clear: Chlorine or Bromine. Nowadays people can choose from chlorine, bromine, ionizer, mineralizer, biguanide, peroxide, and salt systems — and each method requires special attention to specific water quality parameters.

Not knowing what to test for with each pool water sanitizing system could have disastrous results… which brings us to an email inquiry from ‘ShonShondra911′ who recently had a pool installed in her yard and had no idea what type of test kit to use:

"Our pool salesman suggested we install our pool with one of the ionizer systems that puts small amounts of copper in the water to help keep the pool from turning green and slimy (his words) and he said we would have to test for the levels once we got all the water in and the system started but he never said what levles to test. Do we just use the yellow and red kit you sell? Test strips you sell? Or do we need lab testing each time? Can you help???"

Do not panic, Shon. Do not panic. We can help you decide what type of pool water test kit should work best for your pool’s copper ionizer sanitizing system.

While you COULD invest in a traditional wet chemistry test kits such as the Taylor Copper Test Kit which tests for copper (.2ppm – 3.0ppm) in pool water and the Taylor K-1004 Troubleshooter Test Kit which tests for alkalinity, pH and other water parameters… a simpler, less expensive option exists.

The Pool Check brand of pool test strips manufactures a dip-n-read test strip product called the Pool Check Copper 3-Way which tests for copper, pH and total alkalinity — the three main water quality parameters you will want to keep an eye on most of the time.

This product boasts detection ranges of:

1. Copper: 0, 0.2, 0.4, 0.6, 0.8, 1, 2 ppm
2. Total Alkalinity: 0, 40, 80, 120, 180, 240, 360 ppm
3. pH: 6, 6.4, 6.8, 7.2, 7.6, 8.2, 9

… and has a total test time of around one minute.

Additionally, this product requires no special chemicals, no multi-step instructions, no proprietary testing vessels (containers), and has a cost of around $11 for 50 tests!

So, unless you feel re-visiting your old high school chemistry days, we suggest you take a look at the Pool Check Copper 3-Way for your day-to-day pool water testing needs.

• Alkalinity – Not having the correct amount of alkalinity in your water will make getting and keeping the pH of your pool water very difficult.

• Calcium Hardness – Having too much calcium in your water could result in deposits forming and could also make it harder for other chemicals to dissolve in the water. Too little calcium in the water could result in pool water becoming aggressive and starting to attack various pool surfaces.

• Chlorine (Free) – If you use chlorine as your sanitizer, check to see if you have any left over from last year… or risk adding more than you need to add at the beginning of the year and ‘wasting’ money.

• Chlorine (Total) – If you use chlorine as your sanitizer and shocked your pool at the end of the previous season (as you SHOULD have), then you may have a lot of combined chlorine in your water that needs to get ‘burned out’ w/ a non-chlorine shock. Combined chlorine does little good when it comes to keeping pool water clean.

• pH – Incorrect pH levels drastically reduce the effectiveness of important pool chemicals such as bromine, chlorine, clarifiers, algaecides, etc.

• Metals – Having unwanted metals such as copper and iron in your pool water when you shock it w/ an oxidizer like chlorine or bromine at the beginning of the season could cause the metals to precipitate out of solution and stain pool surfaces.

• Stabilizer – Also known as cyanuric acid, having too little of this compound in pool water makes it difficult to maintain a free chlorine residual. Having too much of it can keep chlorine in a pool from doing its job.

• Total Dissolved Solids – Too many total dissolved solids in pool water will result in the water not accepting additional material… such as the chlorine powder (granules), tablets, sticks, or pool chemistry balancing chemicals.

So, get your water tested before adding start-up chemicals. Any questions?

Pool Check Salt Test Strips

Pool Check 5-in-1 Test Strips

Pool Check Copper 3-in-1

]]> http://watertestingblog.com/2012/04/26/what-to-test-when-opening-your-pool/feed/ 0 http://watertestingblog.com/2009/08/10/copper-in-pool-water-where-did-it-come-from/ http://watertestingblog.com/2009/08/10/copper-in-pool-water-where-did-it-come-from/#respond Mon, 10 Aug 2009 21:19:30 +0000 http://watertestingblog.com/2009/08/10/copper-in-pool-water-where-did-it-come-from/ Many people ask this question because as far as they know, their public water supplier keeps a close watch on the levels of metals in drinking water… so then why does copper show up in their pool when they don’t use copper based algaecides?

Unless filtered or otherwise purified, most water contains at the very least SOME dissolved minerals and those levels will depend on where the water came from and/or passed through on its way to your pool. As an example, most well water contains dissolved minerals so that means if you fill your pool/spa with well water, your pool/spa water will contain dissolved minerals, too.

You can test for dissolved metals in well water with Water Metals Check, an easy-to-use test for metals in water with a low detection level of 10 ppb (parts per billion).

Earlier we mentioned that some algaecides contain small amounts of copper in them which serves as an algistat, or algae growth inhibitor. Under the right conditions copper introduced by copper based algaecides will remain suspended (in solution) and you will not know they exist unless you test for them with a copper in water test kit.

Metal fixtures (such as ladders) and swimming pool heaters in and around the pool get continuous exposure to sometimes very harsh conditions such as high or low pH and/or extremely high chlorine (or other oxidizer) levels which cause corrosion of the metal surfaces and allow metal ions to enter the water. These ions can create interesting color patterns in water and difficult to remove stains when they fall out of solution and land on the bottom of the pool or other surface.

Many times, though, copper discoloration and staining comes from the heat exchanger in a pool heater. As water passes over its multi-tubed, copper finned heat exchanger at a rate faster than the exchanger can handle or in a corrosive form due to high/low pH levels and/or unusually high oxidizer levels, ions of copper come off metal surfaces and enter the water.

Another (obvious) problem presents itself when copper heat exchangers start to erode away: Their walls get thinner and thinner and eventually holes develop. Replacing heat exchangers can cost a LOT of money.

So therefore, if copper stains and high pool/spa heater repair bills don’t strike your fancy, keep a close watch on the pH, sanitizer levels and from time-to-time copper levels to make sure nothing has started to eat away at your heat exchanger.

And finally, some sanitizer systems, such as the Pool Frog Mineral Purifier System, actually USE ionized copper as part of their chemical system as well as ionized copper. Copper ions serve as an algistat and silver ions serve as a bactericide.

Manufacturers of mineral-based sanitizer systems strongly suggest testing pool water regularly for critical water parameters such as pH, alkalinity, sanitizer level, etc. so that the minerals do not ‘drop out of solution’ and cause staining.

Test strips such as Pool Check Copper 3 in 1 make routine pool testing quick, simple and safe.

In unbalanced water, copper may ‘drop out of solution’ and cause staining of a pool’s submerged fixtures and pretty much all of its non-metal surfaces (i.e. vinyl liner, fiberglass bottom, concrete/gunite bottom, etc.). Typically a severe drop in alkalinity and/or pH can result in copper staining with the right amount of free dissolved copper present.

In the case where the pool in question has a heater tests for copper in pool water yielding positive results may mean the pool water has become corrosive and has started to eat away at the copper in the heating element(s) in their heater.

A second source of copper, and also a good reason to test for copper in pool water every once in a while, has to do with the pool owner’s choice of algaecides. Some of the algaecides on the market contain trace amounts of copper due to copper’s ability to effectively fend off an outbreak of algae in water whose chlorine or other oxidizer level has dropped. Long-term use, or most often improper overuse, of copper-based algaecides can lead to an excessive buildup of copper in the water. A severe change in alkalinity and pH, possibly as a result of a rainstorm or the addition of ‘new’ water to the pool, may cause that copper to ‘come out of solution’ and cause staining on the surfaces mentioned earlier.

Does Copper in Pool Water Always Mean Trouble?

Absolutely not! In fact, some pools rely on copper as their primary algistat and use very low levels of oxidizers such as chlorine to destroy any organics that do attempt to make the water their new home.

How Can Pool Owners Test for Copper in Pool Water?

Pool owners can test for the presence of free dissolved copper in their pool water using traditional wet kits, by taking a sample of their pool water into their local pool store for analysis, or by using a test strip such as the Pool Check^TM Copper test strip which detects free dissolved copper levels as low as 0.2ppm and as high as 2.0ppm in under a minute.

The Pool Check^TM Copper test strip also tests for pH and Alkalinity at the same time it tests for free dissolved copper residual. This product tests for pH and Alkalinity because they changes in those two pool water parameters can cause free dissolved copper to come out of solution, settle on surfaces, and stain whatever it lands on — sometimes permanently!