We took a quick look at Hanna Instrument’s main web site ( http://www.hannainst.com ) and saw that they have a link to their Madagascar branch ( http://www.hannaservice.it ) listed on the main page. We followed that link and it took us to a page targeted towards customers from Africa and the Balkans.

From there we went to the Contacts page ( http://www.hannaservice.it/?rt=index/contacts ) where we found the contact information for a number of Hanna’s offices in the region.

We hope this information proves useful for you, Ony!

Chlorine test kits for United States residents

On our own stores we carry a number of chlorine test strips and DPD test tablets for both free and total chlorine concentration testing.

Whether in your drinking water as a preventative measure against potentially harmful organic contaminants or in the swimming pool guarding against bacteria and waterborne diseases proper levels of chlorine must get maintained to keep us safe.

Without regular testing we will not KNOW if we have the correct amount of chlorine present. Too little chlorine puts our health at risk and too much can put our health at risk as well as cause us to spend money unnecessarily on chemicals.

If you’d like to get a quick lesson on the different types of chlorine found in water (i.e. free chlorine, total chlorine and combined chlorine), we posted an article called What is the Difference Between Total Residual Chlorine and Free Chlorine? that covers the topic very well (in our humble opinion).

Also, and as always, please feel free to Contact Us with any water testing questions you may have. We also invite anyone with news of free or discounted water testing announcements to contact us so we can help spread the word.

While many companies have moved away from single parameter water testing meters and now produce meters that can test for a number of parameters instead of just one, Hanna recently released its new Hanna Checker HC Photometer for Free Chlorine which tests exclusively for free chlorine using EPA Approved DPD-1 as its reagent.

Specifications for the Hanna Checker HC Photometer for Free Chlorine:

• Detection Range: 0.00 to 2.50 ppm (mg/L)
• Resolution: 0.01 ppm (mg/L)
• Precision: ±0.03 ppm (mg/L) @ 25°C
• Power Source: (1) 1.5 Volt AAA Battery
• Light Source: 525 nm LED
• Sample Size: 10mL
• Applicable Testing Method: Adaptation of the EPA approved DPD method Standard Method 4500-ClG

Does the Hanna Checker HC Photometer for Free Chlorine use DPD?

We already answered this one, but yes, it does. The Hanna Checker HC Photometer for Free Chlorine uses an adaptation of the EPA approved DPD method Standard Method 4500-ClG. Given that the test uses a standard 10mL sample, we would guess that the meter can use any standard DPD reagents for a 10mL sample size.

Our opinion of the meter?

• Many of us here at Water Testing Blog have large hands with clumsy fingers so meters like this one that still use cuvettes, and GLASS cuvettes at that, kind of scare us. On top of that, most pool areas prohibit the use of glass in the pool area and many food processing facilities do as well.
• The meter appears to use pouches of powder which get ripped open prior to use… and we see people accidentally spilling the DPD powder and/or having trouble pouring the powder into the little cuvette — especially if testing outdoors in a breezy climate like one might find poolside.
• Having said all that, we DO, however, think that Hanna hit a nice price point w/ this meter; not too expensive and not too inexpensive.

• Hanna MISSED the mark w/ its pricing for the DPD-1 reagents. Each test will cost nearly $0.40 to run… when other testing methods use DPD-1 reagents (i.e. DPD tablets) that cost less than $0.10 per test.