The USEPA set as a Primary Drinking Water Standard the level of 15 ppb dissolved lead in drinking water. Reaching or exceeding this level, for a water treatment plant, means the plant must immediately act to reduce the level. Failing to do so could result in substantial fines from the USEPA.

Why test for lead?

Scientific studies have shown that prolonged consumption of lead in water may result in learning disabilities, muscular disorders, damage to the kidneys, and a host of other unwanted health problems.

I have city water… so why should I test for lead?

Lead can show up in city/municipal/public water supplies. Why? Older water systems may still have metal tubing in use that, in older days, workers used solder (which contained an amount of lead) to join together.

Over time water makes its way through the joints to the solder and then lead slowly enters the water supply. To make matters worse, older homes that contain copper plumbing usually have joints fused together with solder that contains lead — and no State, Local or Federal law can make homeowners or landlords replace older plumbing with newer, lead-free components.

Testing for other metals in water

If concerned about metals other than lead in your water, we also carry test products for mercury, chromium, zinc, total copper, total iron, manganese and a cumulative test for heavy metals.

For additional information on lead in drinking water

To learn more about the effects of consuming lead, how lead could potentially gets into your water, and information on removing lead from drinking water, please take a look at the lead archives section on the Water Testing Blog.

        ANOTHER WaterSafe City Water Test Kit Valued at $23!

To qualify for the drawing, simply use the entry form below and choose from a number of free, easy ways to earn entries. Options include following Water Testing Blog & Water Test Kit Store us on social media (Twitter and Pinterest), visiting our Facebook page, and tweeting about the giveaway once a day. Each option gains you additional contest entries!

If already following us on Twitter and Pinterest, don’t worry! Simply use that option and you will still get entered BUT you still must use the ‘official’ Rafflecopter entry process for all applicable options to be entered in the drawing for the FREE WaterSafe City Water Test Kit.

Instructions:

• Sign into the drawing (log in) using your Facebook account or email address
• Click the square box w/ the +1
• Answer the question and earn one entry in the drawing
• Earn additional drawing entries by sharing, tweeting and/or following Water Testing Blog in social media

That’s it! You’re entered! Good luck and don’t forget to come back each day and earn additional entries by tweeting about the drawing!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

        WaterSafe City Water Test Kit Valued at $23!

To qualify for the drawing, simply use the entry form below and choose from a number of free, easy ways to earn entries. Options include following Water Testing Blog & Water Test Kit Store us on social media (Twitter and Pinterest), visiting our Facebook page, and tweeting about the giveaway once a day. Each option gains you additional contest entries!

If already following us on Twitter and Pinterest, don’t worry! Simply use that option and you will still get entered BUT you still must use the ‘official’ Rafflecopter entry process for all applicable options to be entered in the drawing for the FREE WaterSafe City Water Test Kit.

Instructions:

• Sign into the drawing (log in) using your Facebook account or email address
• Click the square box w/ the +1
• Answer the question and earn one entry in the drawing
• Earn additional drawing entries by sharing, tweeting and/or following Water Testing Blog in social media

That’s it! You’re entered! Good luck and don’t forget to come back each day and earn additional entries by tweeting about the drawing!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

To qualify for the drawing, simply use the entry form below and choose from a number of free, easy ways to earn entries. Options include following Water Testing Blog & Water Test Kit Store us on social media (Twitter and Pinterest), visiting our Facebook page, and tweeting about the giveaway once a day.  Each option gains you additional contest entries!

If already following us on Twitter and Pinterest, don't worry!  Simply use that option and you will still get entered BUT you still must use the 'official' Rafflecopter entry process for all applicable options to be entered in the drawing for the FREE WaterSafe Science Fair Project Test Kit (4-Pack).

1. Sign into the drawing (log in) using your Facebook account or email address
2. Click the square box w/ the +1
3. Answer the question and earn one entry in the drawing
4. Earn additional drawing entries by sharing, tweeting and/or following Water Testing Blog in social media
5. That's it! You're entered! Good luck and don't forget to come back each day and earn additional entries by tweeting about the drawing!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

If so, then you and ‘Anne’ have some thing in common. Those evil little part stealing cretins stole Anne’s instructions for her test kit!

I had ordered the test kit a year back or so.
Now want to use the 2nd, duplicate set.

Anne

We would love to help you, Anne, but honestly we don’t have a clue as to which test kit you purchased or from what company you bought it. We would guess, though, that since you mentioned ‘second set’, that you may have purchased the Water Quality Test Kit from SenSafe.

If so, then you will find a link to that particular kit’s instructions and color charts under the image above. We hope this helps!

Looking for a water test kit?

We know of several reputable online merchants who carry reliable and affordable water quality test kits manufactured by industry leaders like SenSafe and WaterSafe.

• Filters Fast
• Filter Water
• Isopure Water
• Test Country
• Test Products
• Water Filters

Below you will find a few of the more popular water test kits offered on several of the sites listed above. These represent but a small fraction of the water quality test kits available these days so in our opinion, if anyone says, “I can’t find the right test kit”, they really haven’t looked for one.

Something to think about: The faucets and showers in motor homes use water from whatever and whichever filling station the motor home’s owner finds when it comes time to refill the storage tanks. Where did that water come from? Do you know? Probably not.

If traveling out in an area where a lot of agricultural activity takes place you may want to think about the possibility that the water contains harmful herbicides/pesticides like as atrazine. Additionally, potentially harmful levels of nitrates and/or nitrites may also exist in the water… especially if the water comes from a well.

Note: As far as we know, the chlorine tablets people add to motor home water storage tanks do nothing to reduce or eliminate the risks associated with ingesting pesticides (i.e. atrazine), nitrates, nitrites, heavy metals such as lead, lindane, MTBE, and other possible drinking water contaminants.

Does anyone make water filters for RV’s and motor homes?

As a matter of fact, a widely recognized leader in the personal drinking water filtration industry, Culligan manufactures an NSF Certified line of RV & Marine Water Filter Systems:

• Culligan RV-EZ-3 — Reduction Claims Validated for this unit by NSF: Atrazine Reduction, Cyst Reduction, Lead Reduction, Lindane Reduction, Turbidity Reduction, Chlorine Reduction (Aesthetic), Nominal Particulate Reduction (Class I), Taste and Odor Reduction.
• Culligan RC-EZ-4 — Reduction Claims Validated for this unit by NSF: Chloramine Reduction, Chlorine Reduction (Aesthetic), Nominal Particulate Reduction (Class I), Taste and Odor Reduction, Cyst Reduction, Lead Reduction, Mercury Reduction, MTBE Reduction, Turbidity Reduction, VOC Reduction.

  The Culligan RC-EZ-4 functions as a direct upgrade to the filters included in the EZ-1 & EZ-3 RV Water Filter Systems.

Each system, as you can see, removes/reduces a different number of potential drinking water contaminants. At this point we would NORMALLY suggest water quality testing as an efficient and effective means of determining which RV Water Filter System a person should consider… but since motor homes and TV’s draw their water from a different source each time they fill up, that may not make sense financially.

So, rather than spend a small fortune on testing supplies everyplace one stops to fill up the water tank(s), why not simply invest in a water filter so you don’t have to think about it anymore?

Clearly no one solution will work for all those who roam about the country in RV’s but no matter how you slice it, some amount of filtration when facing a wide range of potential contaminants in one’s water supply will always make more sense than having no filtration at all!

Testing the water before you fill up?

Although in most cases people probably do not have a whole lot of options when it comes to where they can fill up their RV or motor home water tanks while traveling through unfamiliar areas, it probably would not hurt to run a spot check on the water before hooking up.

A quick check for basic (and important!) drinking water parameters may keep you from filling your tank(s) up with water that will continue to harm you and your family until all its contaminants get diluted — some 5 or 10 fill ups later, depending upon how far you drain tanks down before refilling.

Remember: You always have the option of using bottled water for a brief stint if the water at a one particular filling station fails to make the grade!

Water test kits for RV’s and motor homes?

Hmmm… Until now we never really gave it a lot of thought. Having said that, both SenSafe and WaterSafe make excellent, and highly portable, water quality test kits that pretty much anyone can afford and use.

Sensafe EZ Coliform Cult E.Coli Test Kit

Many times you have seen us post articles urging private well owners to test for the presence of bacteria in their wells on a regular basis — ‘cuz no one else will ever volunteer to do it for them. We have even given links to a basic bacteria in water test kit from two different companies (SenSafe & WaterSafe) and to a more advanced bacteria test kit from SenSafe that lets a person find out not only if they have coliform bacteria present in their water, but also if they have E. Coli present.

Today we have information about the ‘tools’ required to take full advantage of the advanced bacteria test kit from SenSafe and how to properly use them to test for the presence of coliform bacteria in water samples.

How to use the Sensafe EZ Coliform Cult E.Coli Test Kit

• First of all, make sure to keep the test kit dry and in temperatures of 15-27 C (59-81 F).
• Wash hands thoroughly with soap and water before gathering your water sample. Dry hands completely.
• Carefully remove the bottle cap from the Sensafe EZ Coliform Cult E.Coli Test Kit.
• Add 100 milliliters of sample water but make sure not to overfill.
• Quickly put the cap back on the test bottle and secure it tightly.
• Shake test bottle vigorously until all of the media (solids inside the bottle) dissolve. Solution should turn a clear yellow color at this point. Turbid samples will have a less clear appearance.
• Either incubate the sample for 24 hours at 35 deg C/95 deg F — or — for 48 hours at 25 deg C/77 deg F.

• At the end of incubation period, look at the color of the sample. A yellow color indicates a lack of coliforms while a bluish green color indicates the presence of coliforms.

For those who wish to learn if their water sample contains E. Coli, two options exist:

1. Shine a UV light with wavelength 365nm from the bottom of the sample. If bright blue fluorescence occurs, the sample contains E. Coli. Where can you obtain a UV light source to perform this test? WaterFilters.Net carries the Sensafe NVF-4 Handheld UV Light.

2. Addition of Sensafe Kovacs Indole Reagent will also let you know if the sample contains E. Coli. Unfortunately we do not, at this time, have specific information regarding how this process works.

Wikipedia.org has this to say about vinyl chloride: “This colorless compound is an important industrial chemical chiefly used to produce the polymer polyvinyl chloride (PVC). At ambient pressure and temperature, vinyl chloride is a gas with a sickly sweet odor. It is highly toxic, flammable and carcinogenic.” ( source )

More than 300 McCullom Lake residents have signed up to get their wells tested for carcinogenic vinyl chloride at Rohm and Haas’ expense.

Of 515 surveys sent out last month by village government, 325 came back wanting the free test, while only 11 responded no, Village President Terry Counley said. Rohm and Haas offered in August to pay for it, more than four years into a series of lawsuits blaming pollution from its Ringwood plant for causing a brain cancer cluster.

“I’d say it’s a very good sign. We’re all in this boat together over here, and we need the answers,” Counley said.

Counley must select a water testing company from a list of firms accredited by the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency. Only people who signed up will get their wells tested, and Counley said he would like to get it done before winter.

Three former village next-door neighbors diagnosed with brain cancer filed the first lawsuits in April 2006, alleging that decades of seepage from a closed 8-acre waste pit fouled their air and groundwater with vinyl chloride and other chemicals.

Thirty-two lawsuits as of today blame the pollution for brain and pituitary tumors in McCullom Lake and the Lakeland Park subdivision in McHenry. ( source )

Thankfully the residents of that region in Illinois have banded together and taken a stand on the matter of well water pollution. With any hope these folks will find some answers from the testing… and after that we hope other communities will band together and investigate possible sources of suspected well water contamination.

Can the average person test their own water?

While the task of testing well or ground water for the presence of compounds such as vinyl chloride will remain in the hands of certified water testing experts such as National Testing Laboratories, the average person CAN test for other, more common drinking water contaminants.

Companies such as SenSafe and WaterSafe make easy-to-use, accurate at-home water test kits for a number of critical drinking water parameters such as arsenic in water, lead in water, bacteria in water, and heavy metals in water, etc.

Consumers have the option of purchasing drinking water test kits for individual parameters or in multi-parameter test kits such as the Water Quality Test Kit from SenSafe and the City Water Test Kit from WaterSafe.

We recently received an email from a parent whose son and friend want to perform arsenic testing on a number of water samples in their area and chart the results.

My question: My son and a co-student are wanting to do a science fair project on arsenic in the ground water. We wanted to check many samples. However, the cost of the kits are prohibitive. Is there a way that the cost of the kits may be reduced for such an endeavor?? (we wanted to use the 100 sample kit.) We would love to use your product and have it on display for the project. Please let us know if this is a possibility.. thank you so very much.

It pleases us to hear that some youngsters have taken an interest in doing a lot of ground water testing for arsenic using an Arsenic Quick Test Kit… because we know they work very well, do not require special training to use, and use safer reagents compared to other home arsenic test kits currently available on the market.

Having spoken with members of that company’s staff on numerous occasions, we can assure you that other people have successfully used versions of their field-ready arsenic test kit in science fairs in the past and done quite well.

UPDATE (8/14/2013): Previously we reported that we did not carry the Arsenic Quick Test Kit, but that has changed and the price for smaller versions as well as larger version of the product have all gone down since we first posted this article… almost three years ago!

Miniature arsenic test kits for spot testing?

In addition to full-sized arsenic test kits, we also now carry 2-test and 5-test versions of the Arsenic Quick as well as a version designed specifically for testing wood samples for arsenic.

Part Number: 481297-5 <2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 12, 15, 18, 24, 30, 40, 45 & >50ppb 5 Tests	Part Number: 481396-5 0, 5, 10, 20, 50, 100, 200 & >500 ppb 5 Tests
Part Number: 481396-5 0, 5, 10, 20, 50, 100, 200 & >500 ppb 5 Tests	Part Number: 481396-W Arsenic Test Kit for Wood 5 Tests

If memory serves us right, a student won some sort of National Award using an Arsenic Quick test kit.

Other water test kits for science fair projects?

Not all students have access to well water or surface water… but that does NOT mean they can’t use water testing as the basis of their science project. Why? Because even tap water varies from place to place and in some places its quality may vary on a daily basis.

Test 4 Water Sources Test 10 Water Sources

WaterSafe Science Project test kits allow students of all ages to participate in educational, hands-on activities related to water quality. Avaliable in two sizes, 4-packs and 10-packs, the WaterSafe science project test kits come with all the supplies needed to test for Lead, Bacteria, Pesticides, Nitrates, Chlorine, Hardness and pH. Each kit also comes with step-by-step instructions, an outline for the water testing project, and a convenient data sheet to record the results.

]]> http://watertestingblog.com/2010/10/08/arsenic-test-kits-for-science-fair-projects/feed/ 0 http://watertestingblog.com/2010/09/30/free-well-water-test-kits-offered/ http://watertestingblog.com/2010/09/30/free-well-water-test-kits-offered/#respond Thu, 30 Sep 2010 20:19:25 +0000 http://watertestingblog.com/?p=2608

Residents in certain areas of Wisconsin can obtain free water testing kits from the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources as a result of concerns that some (or many) wells may have gotten contaminated during recent periods of flooding.

Health officials pretty much worldwide suggest testing the quality of well water after the tops of wells get covered with flood water due to the likelihood of flood water carrying a plethora of potentially harmful bacteria (i.e. coliform bacteria) and other contaminants (i.e. atrazine & simazine), heavy metals like lead, VOC’s, nitrates/nitrites, etc.).

Area officials are encouraging homeowners and landowners whose wells may have been compromised by flooding to test their water for contaminants.

“Typically, we find that we have wells that have been (covered) by floodwaters — you absolutely have to have it tested,” said Dan Baumann, regional water program manager with the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources.

“The best precaution is to have your well water tested if you feel it’s been compromised by flooding.”

Baumann said wells in floodplain areas are of particular concern because there likely is a host of bacteria and contaminants in the water, which can cause illness. But the DNR’s blanket recommendation is to acquire a test kit if a well’s casing had water flow over it, regardless of location. ( source )

For water sample test kits call Public Health at 715.284.4301 ext. 385 or the Zoning Department at 715.284.0220. For folks not located in areas affected by the flooding in Wisconsin and/or folks who live in other States, you have the option of picking up test kits on your own from reputable test kit manufacturers such as SenSafe and WaterSafe

If your concern lies strictly with bacteriological contamination of well water,