Looking to by a TDS monitor for personal use.

We have a lot of gas drilling starting where I live, I’m having my well and water checked by a professional well service. But there are a few of us that would like to have a tds monitor for after the fact to keep a check on our water instead of constantly having to pay a professional to find out if there has been any change. I would like to know if you have a tds monitor that would pick up pH, barium, chloride, and methane. iron manganese, hardness (calcium and magnesium), sodium, total organic carbon, strontium, oil&grease, detergents, lead, arsenic, alkalinity, coliform bacteria, sulfate and nitrate. Volatile organic compounds (VOC’s) or a subgroup of VOC’s called BTEX (benzene etc.) along with radionuclides like gross alpha, radium and radon.

The first thing we need to point out: TDS Meters cannot detect all of those things. This does not mean, however, that they do not have their use in monitoring water quality in regions where gas drilling, or other industrial activities, take place.

Wikipedia describes TDS in the following manner: “Primary sources for TDS in receiving waters are agricultural and residential runoff, leaching of soil contamination and point source water pollution discharge from industrial or sewage treatment plants. The most common chemical constituents are calcium, phosphates, nitrates, sodium, potassium and chloride, which are found in nutrient runoff, general stormwater runoff and runoff from snowy climates where road de-icing salts are applied. The chemicals may be cations, anions, molecules or agglomerations on the order of one thousand or fewer molecules, so long as a soluble micro-granule is formed. More exotic and harmful elements of TDS are pesticides arising from surface runoff.” ( source )

Given the possibilities of what TDS meters COULD possibly detect, one could safely say that regardless of whether or not a person lives near gas drilling or not, a sudden change in TDS readings might warrant further investigation.

Sudden and/or drastic changes in the pH levels of source water may also serve as good reason to perform additional testing so having a pH meter handy may also prove beneficial.

At-Home Testing vs. Laboratory Testing

In a situation like Sylvia’s where a myriad of both simple and complex drinking water contaminants could show up at any time, we feel confident saying that no at-home test kit will protect her and her neighbors fully and we hope that local health officials will step up to the challenge of keeping tabs on local water quality by implementing a full regimen of independent testing… instead of blindly trusting the results handed down from private industry.

Without knowing how much your local lab charges for a ‘full battery’ of testing, Sylvia, we will suggest contacting companies like National Testing Labs to see what they have to offer.

Inexpensive Spot Checking Options

As we previously stated, occasionally testing the TDS and pH levels of source water may provide clues as to whether or not it contains contaminants. You may also want to test for the following:

• Chlorides
• Nitrates/Nitrites
• Heavy Metals (Collectively)
• Heavy Metals (Independently — Lead, Copper, Arsenic, Iron, Chromium, etc.)

A company by the name of Industrial Test Systems, Inc. manufactures an excellent test kit known as the Well Driller Master Test Kit which offers a number of useful tests designed for use on well water at a reasonable price — usually around $200 — and the kits come with multiple tests for each parameter.

Jun. 7 — Surface water and water wells near pending natural gas drilling operations should be tested before any drilling starts, Scott Fickbohm, manager of Otsego County’s Soil & Water District, said.

“We need baseline tests if we’re going to be able to show that any changes have occurred,” Fickbohm said Friday.

In his agency, he and one other staff member could work part-time at monitoring surface water in the county, he said. The Soil & Water District does not have the means to test thousands of water wells, “but I’m working on a database to try to let people know where they can get their water tested, and how much it will cost,” he said.

Costs will depend on how comprehensive the tests are. “I’ve heard everything from hundreds to thousands of dollars,” he said.

…

The state may mandate that drilling firms pay for baseline testing of water wells within a certain distance of a drilling operation, he noted.

Although the state’s rules have yet to be issued, Soil & Water is preparing for its upcoming duties because it cannot wait, Fickbohm said.

“We’re taking our lead from the SRBC,” he said.

The Susquehanna River Basin Commission is monitoring the Susquehanna River in Pennsylvania for conductivity and Ph values because when these values change they may indicate the river is being polluted, he said.

“Conductivity is the presence of ions in the water, and that’s likely to pick up any change in salinity,” he said.

In their quest for shale gas, companies are drilling thousands of feet down into a zone where there are pockets of saline water, Fickbohm said. A change in the river’s saline levels might mean that brackish water from the depths has reached the river, the largest source of fresh water in the Chesapeake Bay. ( source )

Testing for Conductivity

Conductivity testing typically gets done with the use of a conductivity meter. You will find examples of several popular conductivity meters below.

Product Name	Model
Conductivity Meter: Digital 0 to 1999 µS Water Quality Meter (WA300) with Remote Sensor Probe & 36″ Lead	WA300
Conductivity Meter: Digital 0 to 1999µS (PWA-301) with Integral Sensor Tip & Protective Cap	PWA-301
Conductivity Meter: Digital Pen Style 10 to 9990 µS/cm (CO502) ATC with Calibration Solution, Screwdriver & Hard Case	CO502
Conductivity TDS Meter: Digital (CDM22CT) with Built-In Thermometer	DCM22CT
Electrical Conductivity EC Meter: Digital 0 to 20.0 EC (EC506) ATC with Calibration Solution, Screwdriver & Hard Case	EC506
pH/ORP/Temperature Conductivity Combination Digital Water Testing Meter (DPHO1380K) with Software & Carrying Case	DPHO1380K

While this article mentioned conductivity as a means of testing for changes in surface water’s salinity, other testing methods such as TDS meters, salt (chloride) meters and/or chloride test strips may work as well, but their effectiveness, we believe, may get limited by their detection ranges.

In Honesdale, PA, an area slated to have gas wells installed very soon, a meeting will take place in June and at that meeting water quality experts will go over details related to the drilling and inform local residents about well water testing options.

An informational program titled: Home Water Well Testing in the Gas Well Area is being held June 15.

Jointly hosted by Penn State Cooperative Extension and the Wayne Conservation District, the program is being offered at two separate locations and times: Damascus School in Damascus from 2 to 4 p.m. or the Park Street Complex in Honesdale from 7 to 9 p.m.

“We feel that people should be more aware of general water testing with their wells. They should be testing every so often to make sure that their drinking water is of a good quality. But also, it’s obvious that we need to do this with the gas wells …gas drilling coming in,” said Jamie Knecht, district watershed specialist.

Pat Mohn, Penn State Cooperative Extension, said a standard well test costs $50, whereas testing geared more towards an oil and gas drilling area would run around $65. Such a test would include testing for: coliform bacteria, E. coli, total dissolved solids, barium and chlorides.

There are a lot of different packages and prices, she said. Testing for heavy metals, including arsenic would cost around $130.

The meeting’s agenda includes: how gas wells can impact groundwater wells, regulations to protect private wells, potential pollutants, testing strategies, how to collect water samples, and interpretation of water test results. ( source )

When situations like this come up, and no one ‘really’ knows what will happen to water quality in an area, we suggest that you don’t take chances with the quality of your water and err on the side of caution… especially since a variety of water quality experts already suggest periodic testing — ‘just to make sure’.

Certified Lab Testing Versus At-Home Drinking Water Test Kits

Hands down, and we mean WAY down, in cases where unknown contaminants of a natural sort (chlorides, arsenic, metals, etc.), possibly some of a non-natural sort, ‘might’ find their way into the aquifer from which you draw your well water, all of us here at Water Testing Blog believe nothing takes the place of thorough water testing conducted by a certified water testing lab. We applaud the efforts of officials in the Honesdale, PA area to educate the public on their lab testing options.

For everyone else not in the Honesdale, PA area, and perhaps even a few folks IN the Honesdale, PA area who fear a potential conspiracy/cover-up, other lab testing options exist such as National Testing Laboratories and Suburban Water Testing.