As an immediate example of this need, a Water Testing Blog reader named John recently asked,

“Hi, I am installing a 5000 litre water tank which i intend to add chlorine to and need an inexpensive free chlorine meter could you advise me on what to purchase as this is a new venture for me. Regards, John M.”

Thank you, John, for your question. We will begin by saying that you should immediately narrow your search by eliminating any water quality testing meters not using a form of DPD-1 as the reagent for free chlorine testing.

While ORP meters do offer a good bit of utility, their readings do not directly monitor just free chlorine content of water and a great number of water quality purists still feel that traditional DPD chemistry provides the best means of determining a sample’s relative safety — based solely upon the sample’s chlorine concentration, of course.

With that said, DPD comes in several forms: Liquids, Powders, Tablets, and ReagentStrips.

To answer John’s question directly, though, we suggest that he take a look at the eXact Micro 7+ Water Testing Meter. It offers quality chlorine testing capabilities and the option of testing for a host of other parameters, as well — if desired.

The basic test kit includes…

• 1 eXact® Micro 7+ Meter
• 1 bottle of eXact® Strip Micro DPD-1 (25 tests)
• 1 bottle of eXact® Strip Micro DPD-3 (25 tests)
• 1 bottle of eXact® Strip Micro pH (25 tests)
• 1 bottle of eXact® Strip Micro Total Alkalinity (25 tests)
• 1 bottle of eXact® Strip Micro Calcium Hardness (25 tests)
• 1 bottle of eXact® Strip Micro Copper (25 tests)
• 1 Mixing Cap
• 1 Cell Cleaning Brush
• 1 Instruction Booklet
• Plastic Carrying Case
• Four AAA Batteries to power the meter

What sort of detection range does the meter have? So glad you asked!

Naturally you will want to, or you should want to, know about the cost of replacement reagent(strips) for the meter. Since John asked about chlorine testing, below you will find links to, and pricing for, replacement DPD-1 and DPD-3 ReagentStrips — currently available at several online locations such as FiltersFast.Com and FilterWater.Com.

So if you find yourself in the market for a chlorine testing meter that uses an EPA Compliant testing method AND offers additional testing capabilities, definitely take a look at the line of eXact Micro 7+ Meters.

No, really. Someone asked us that.

A reader named ‘WetterBetterH2O’ from Iowa asked…

“Do you have a way to test for chromium besides test strips? I don’t like test strips. I want a meter that doesn’t cost a thousand dollars though. Do they make one like that?”

Tell the truth, we’d bet that other people share your dislike, or distrust, of test strips. Although very different from when they first came out, test strips will always get looked at as the ‘least preferred’ testing method due to a few bad brands back in the day.

Having said that, we would now like to direct your attention to the eXact Micro 7+ Water Testing Meter, a multi-parameter water testing meter capable of testing for chromium (VI), also called hexavalent chromium, levels between 0.02 and 4.89 parts per million.

In addition to the affordable cost of the very useful eXact Micro 7+ Meter, which typically costs under $260 for the basic kit, you will need to pick up a bottle of ReagentStrips for Chromium Testing for use with the meter.

Don’t worry, though, because a bottle of 50 Chromium ReagentStrips costs less than $20 — less than $0.40 per test.

eXact Micro 8 Photometer

Over the weekend we received an email from ‘Franny5Franny’ who asked the following question:

“Hi. You guys always talk about the eXact Micro 7+ meter and I just wanted to know if you know if the 8 version has been released yet. My friend works in a wastewater treatment plant and he said he talked to Industrial Test Systems at a tradeshow and the lady told him they were working on the 8 version over the summer. So do you know? Thanks.”

Thanks for writing in, Franny. We, too, had heard that the makers of the eXact Micro 7+ Photometer planned to release a new meter soon… but until you asked we had not really looked into the matter all that much.

Since you asked, though, we did some digging and discovered that Industrial Test Systems, a Rock Hill, SC based manufacturer of water testing products, has actually released a new meter called the eXact Micro 8 Advanced Photometer which performs direct read testing for 7 different water parameters (Cyanide, Total Iron, Ferrous Iron, Ammonia, Phosphates, BT-pH, Sulfide).

The meter also has the ability to test for 11 other water quality parameters: Total Alkalinity, Biguanide, Calcium (as CaCO2), Chloride, Cyanuric Acid, Magnesium, CG-pH, Potassium, Protein (as BSA), Sulfate (as SO4), and Turbidity.

If you any additional information about the eXact Micro 8 Water Testing Meter, you should take a look at the product description on the FilterWater.Com web site.

Are other eXact Meters still available?

Yes. Industrial Test Systems appears to have committed itself to the eXact 7+ / eXact 8 chassis and reagentstrip reagent delivery technology which uses smaller sample sizes and smaller amounts of chemicals per test. Smaller sample sizes and fewer reagents per test both mean less chemical waste generated during mandatory and precautionary testing.

Want to use to determine if a water sample has flouride and is likely city water vs ground water. Site lists lots of chemicals but steers away from Flouride. What is the range of flouride the instrument will detect? Will the presence of other chemicals associated with drinking water efect result? How often is calibration needed and can user complete cal?

With all of the publicity that fluoride in drinking water has gotten over the years it does not surprise us that we keep getting questions about fluoride in drinking water, its effects on people’s health and how to test for it in drinking water.

Until a few years ago fluoride in water testing required ‘sophisticated’ laboratory glassware and used chemical reagents not readily available to the public. Either that or you needed very expensive laboratory grade equipment and a degree in chemistry to operate it.

Now, however, companies like Industrial Test Systems, Inc., a US based manufacturer of water quality testing products have come out with hand held meters like the eXact Micro 7+ Water Testing Meter which uses proven SPADNS chemistry to detect levels of fluoride between 0.1 ppm and 1.1 ppm. See page 18 of the eXact Micro 7+ Meter’s Manual for more information or call the meter’s manufacturer at 1-800-861-9712.

How much fluoride does tap water contain?

While concentrations of fluoride in tap water will vary by location, A 1994 World Health Organization expert committee suggested a level of fluoride from 0.5 to 1.0 mg/L (milligrams per litre), depending on climate. ( source )

We would guess that most municipal water supplies fall somewhere in the range specified by the World Health Organization.

It looks like your Tester will test for Fluoride but on the actual page it doesn’t say that it Does? I specifically want a Device that measure Fluoride levels. Do you have this or does this 199$ machine do this?

This question, we believe, came in response to the following blog entry: EPA Compliant Chlorine Testing Meter

In that entry we mentioned that the eXact Micro 7+ Water Testing Meter has the ability to test for a number of things… including fluoride.

After checking the Filter Water page for the eXact Micro 7+ Water Testing Meter we also noticed that it did not specifically mention fluoride testing… EXCEPT in the final bullet point which reads, “Can test for 25 parameters: with use of test-specific reagents and conversion chart: Ammonia, Bromine, Chloride/Salt, Chlorine Dioxide, Chromium Hexavalent, Copper, Cyanuric Acid, Fluoride, Iodine, Iron, Low Range Total Hardness, Manganese, Nitrate, Nitrite, Ozone, Acid pH, Alkali pH, Potassium, Sulfate, Sulfide, and Turbidity.”

The kit, as sold, does not come with the reagents (Hach SPADNS replacements, to be exact!) to test for fluoride, but you can get them on the meter manufacturer’s web site: www.sensafe.com. Click on the word ‘fluoride’ in the list and it will take you to the exact (no pun intended) place on their site where you can order the product you need for approximately $13.

For instruction on how to use the meter for fluoride testing, please refer to page 18 of the eXact Micro 7+ Meter User’s Manual.

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.

A group called Environment Iowa said Wednesday that it’s concerned about the water quality of all Iowa rivers, especially the Raccoon River. The Raccoon is a major source of drinking water for a good portion of Iowa, including the Des Moines metro area. The group said a fifth of Iowa’s population uses water from the river.

Upstream in Perry, the group accuses Tyson Fresh Meats of being a major polluter of the river. The group said data from the Environmental Protection Agency‘s latest toxic release inventory backs up its claims.

“These are the chemicals such as lead, copper, mercury, dioxin; when dumped into our waterways, these chemicals contaminate drinking water, make places unsafe to swim or fish, and get absorbed by fish, which people eventually eat,” said Eric Nost, of Environment Iowa.

In an e-mailed statement, a Tyson corporate spokesman told KCCI, “The claims by this group against our company are misleading. Our Iowa plants, including the one at Perry, are complying with the state permits that regulate their wastewater treatment systems and they release wastewater into streams and rivers only after it has been fully treated in accordance with the requirements of those permits.”

The group claims that water and the chemicals in it flow from Perry downstream to Des Moines and into Des Moines Water Works intakes. ( source )

We don’t know whether or not the Tyson Fresh Meats has violated any laws and we will not speculate one way or the other. We will, however, recommend that any well owner living in that area, or ANY area for that matter, have their water tested by a certified water testing laboratory.

We also suggest that well owners conduct periodic tests on their well water after heavy rains, after long periods without rain, and pretty much any other time nature or other outside factors (i.e. manmade influences) may have affected the aquifer from which your well draws its water.

eXact Micro 7+ Water Testing Meter

Well Drillers Standard Water Test Kit

Arsenic Quick Water Test Kit