Quote for Chlorine test strips required

K/Attn: The Manager (International Sales)

Dear Ms/Sir,

We have the following requirement for Chlorine Test Strips having the following specifications:

   1. Range: 0, 1, 3, 5, 10 ppm
   2. Total qty: 1000 sticks
   3. Packing required: Bottles of 25 or 50 sticks each.

Important: Before choosing a test strip (stick) for chlorine, make sure you know whether you need to test for free chlorine or test for total chlorine, as different products exist for each!

To answer this person’s inquiry directly, though, the following links will take you to places where you can purchase test strips for both free and total chlorine concentration testing in water.

Simple: Viruses like influenza can spread when one person sneezes and coughs their nasal discharge and/or saliva (gross!) lands on a surface that other people touch. The germs will then travel to whatever surfaces those people touch… including their own food, eyes, mouth, etc.

Proper use of sanitizing and disinfecting solutions on a regular basis helps to reduce the number of germs hanging out on surfaces and thus reduces the likelihood of people unknowingly picking up germs and accidentally infecting themselves or others with an illness.

Is chlorine bleach an effective sanitizer/disinfectant?

In most cases, yes. Chlorine bleach works quite well as a germ-killing agent on surfaces and as a matter of fact, many states require childcare facilities to use dilute bleach solutions to clean changing table surfaces and other areas where human waste, a known haven for harmful germs and bacteria, may (inadvertantly) come into contact with surfaces.

As an example, North Carolina requires childcare workers to wipe down a changing area with a disinfecting bleach solution containing between 500 and 800 parts per million free chlorine after they change each child’s diaper. How do they verify that they have the proper concentration of free chlorine in their disinfecting bleach solution? They test with a product such as the Free Chlorine Water Check Ultra High II test strip.

Perhaps ahead of its time, North Carolina REQUIRES childcare facilities to test the free chlorine levels eachtime thet make new batches of disinfecting solutions (for wiping down bathrooms, changing areas) AND sanitizing solutions (for wiping down tables, chairs, doorknobs, toys, etc.). Making sure each solution contains the proper free chlorine levels before use goes a long way to help prevent the spread of germs, bacteria and illnesses.

Sanitizing: 50 – 200ppm Free Chlorine | Disinfecting: 500 – 800ppm Free Chlorine

So what have we learned? Testing the free chlorine levels in cleaning solutions helps to ensure that cleaning efforts accomplish the goal of properly sanitizing and disinfecting surfaces where children and adults can easily pick up germs capable of infecting someone with the common cold, the ‘traditional’ flu, or worse yet, a case of Swine Flu.

Keeping the facilities clean during the flu season is also a consideration, both Shafer and Baeuchle said.

“We regularly sanitize all the toys. After a child has a toy in their mouth, it has to be sanitized,” Shafer said. “We sanitize the tables and chairs on a regular basis in the classrooms.”

Baeuchle said she is asking the school custodians to pay special attention to high frequency areas like water fountains and doorknobs. ( source )

Interested in testing the concentration of chlorine bleach sanitizing and disinfecting solutions? You can pick up a Childcare/Daycare Kit which includes (3) bottles of North Carolina Licensed Child Care Association approved test strips (total of 300 tests!), quarter cup and tablespoon measuring devices (for proper on-site metering of the bleach), and a copy of the procedures North Carolina wants child care workers to follow when mixing their sanitizing and disinfection solutions.

Free Chlorine + Combined Chlorine = Total Chlorine

If a person wants to learn the combined chlorine content of water they must first measure the free chlorine total chlorine content and then subtract the free chlorine value from the toal chlorine.

Total Chlorine – Free Chlorine = Combined Chlorine

In the past a person had to measure free chlorine and total chlorine separately. Not a real chore, but still an extra step. Now, however, the WaterWorks^tm 2 Free & Total Chlorine Test Strip allows its users to measure free and total chlorine values at the same time, and with the same test strip.

Accurate Testing:

The free chlorine test area on the WaterWorks^tm 2 Free & Total Chlorine Strip uses the same chemistry found on the patented, USEPA Approved SenSafe Free Chlorine Water Check and the test area for total chlorine uses the patented SenSafe Aperture Technology.

Detection Ranges:

Accurately measures free and total chlorine levels from 0.1ppm up to 5.0ppm.

Testing Time:

Less than a minute.

(Free Chlorine) + (Combined Chlorine) = (Total Chlorine)

Free Chlorine: Typically your main sanitizing/disinfecting agent and sometimes referred to as ‘available chlorine’. In most cases people try to keep a free chlorine residual in their water to act as a buffer against biological contaminants. Chemically speaking this is the amount of hypochlorous acid and hypochlorite ion in solution. find free chlorine test strips

Combined Chlorine: The resulting compound when free chlorine molecules interact with biological contaminants containing Nitrogen which most people refer to as ‘chloramines’. You could also refer to combined chlorine as ‘used free chlorine’, but keep in mind that it still does have the abiity to act as a sanitizer/disinfectant… just not nearly as effectively.  find total chlorine test strips

Total Chlorine: The sum of all free, ‘available’, combined, and ‘used’ chlorine in solution.  find total chlorine test strips

Testing for Free & Total Chlorine at the Same Time?

The traditional testing method for chlorine residuals in water involves the use of a reagent system known as DPD that involves two separate chemical mixing procedures.

The WaterWorks 2 Free & Total Chlorine Test Strips have a total test time of around 30 seconds and detect both free and total concentrations in water in the following range: 0, 0.1, 0.2, 0.5, 1, 1.0, 2.5, 5.0 ppm.

If you need to test chlorine levels in your water, then we definitely suggest checking out the chlorine testing convenience and affordability of WaterWorks 2 Free & Total Chlorine Test Strips.

DPD ReagentStrips: Look like test strips, but function like a totally convenient way to precisely administer measured amounts of DPD into a 10 mL water sample. All the reagents, buffers and indicators come neatly impregnated on the pads at the end of an ergonomic PVC strip.

Simply swish the pads around in your sample for 20 seconds, remove the strip, throw it away, and read your sample in your preferred colorimeter. DPD ReagentStrips fall under the guidelines of EPA Compliance and may, in most cases, be used in place of all other DPD methods. . . and they don’t require MSDS.

Previously, DPD came in one of three forms: powder pillow, tablet or liquid. Each has its benefits. . . and each has its downfalls.

Powder Pillow: The most popular form of DPD. Precise amounts of the reagent come in single-dose foil ‘pouches’ that the user tears open and pours into their sample. Sounds like a great idea, yes, but try using these things in a ‘wet’ or windy environment. Anyone who works in the field will know what that means. MSDS required.

Liquid DPD: Cheap as can be, but with that inexpensive price comes an incredibly short shelf-life compared to other DPD delivery systems. MSDS required.

DPD Tablets: Very inexpensive, very stable. Great way to deliver exact amounts of DPD into samples, except for one small problem: DPD tablets do not dissolve smoothly or easily in cold or hard water. In either type of water, DPD tablets typically leave undissolved solids floating in the sample and when analyzing water samples using colorimeters the suspended solids can cause erroneous readings.

Fast Dissolving DPD Tablets: Same reagent dispensing mechanism as regular DPD tablets, but they dissolve faster. These, too, may leave undissolved materials in samples such as elements of the binding agent(s) which held the tablets together prior to immersion in the sample.

UPDATE: For certain free chlorine testing applications, states now have the ability to approve the use of EPA Approved SenSafe(tm) Free Chlorine Check test strips. Please consult with your State and/or Local Health Departments to see if your State has approved their use. Benefits include faster test times and no monochloramine interference.