We received a somewhat frantic inquiry from ‘Harry’ last night asking, “Is h2o2 the same as hydrogen peroxide or is some kind of acide that will ruin my water? Should I be using ph tests for peroxide?”
Hydrogen peroxide does have the chemical formula H2O2… and as for whether or not it will ruin your water, well, Harry, we suppose that would depend upon what type of water you have in mind.
Hydrogen peroxide functions as an oxidizer and gets used in a wide range of applications including as a wash solution used to make sure silicone wafers that go into computers contain no organic contaminants, as a toothpaste ingredient, as a food prep area sanitizing agent, as a means of disinfecting drinking water in some cases, and as a ‘shocking’ agent in pool/spa water that uses a biguanide sanitizer.
As for the pH of hydrogen peroxide (aka: how acidic or basic hydrogen peroxide is), that depends on the concentration of the hydrogen peroxide. At different concentrations dissolved hydrogen peroxide has different pH values. You may not, however, assume that you can draw a direct relationship between the pH of a water sample and its hydrogen peroxide concentration in all cases.
If you want to test for hydrogen peroxide levels/concentrations in water between 0.5ppm and 100ppm we suggest taking a look at the WaterWorks Hydrogen Peroxide Test Strips. Fast testing times and, in our experience, accurate results.
