Dear Sir, I mixed chlorine tablets(water purification Tablets) in water. my friend taken water in Test tube. mixed one drop of liquid then water color changed in yellow. what is name of that liquid. how to by that.please can sent details.

Hello, Kishore, and thank you for the inquiry about a liquid test reagent that turns yellow in the presence of chlorine. Based upon your description we suspect your friend used a chemical called ‘OTO’ to perform the testing. OTO stands for Orthotolidine dihydrochloride. It test for total chlorine (free chlorine plus combined chlorine collectively).

You can find OTO in most pool supply stores, as it normally comes in the more basic pool water testing kits for total chlorine and pH, the two most commonly tested pool water quality parameters.

Many companies also sell the two reagents separately since they do tend to ‘go bad’ after a year once opened and exposed to air.

If you want to perform more precise chlorine concentration testing for free chlorine, the compound most people have the most interest in (usually) when attempting to determine if water has had the proper amount of disinfectant added to it, you will want to invest in a drinking water test kit that uses DPD-based reagents. ( What is DPD? )

For an even simpler means of testing the chlorine levels in water samples you may want to consider a product such as the SenSafe Free Chlorine Water Check, an EPA Approved method for determining free chlorine concentrations in drinking water, or the WaterWorks 2 Free & Total Chlorine product that uses the same free chlorine testing method as the SenSafe Free Chlorine Water Check and also includes a separate test area for total chlorine.

Want to know more about the differences between free and total chlorine? Check out an article called Free Chlorine, Combined Chlorine, Total Chlorine.

One more thing about OTO before we go: We have heard that some countries have outlawed its use due to scientists having evidence that it may cause cancer in humans… so check local laws before making a purchase!

We hope this helps!

As an example, ‘J. Mampilly’ from India installed a system and now seeks to determine if he has installed the correct unit. He asked,

I would like to know about how i can confirm the effectiveness of my water purifier. Labs in India that can certify and throw light on the camparative quality of water before and after using a water purifier. Thank You

Unfortunately we do not have familiarity with water testing laboratories in India and cannot directly assist with this situation. We can suggest, however, that you contact your local health department and ask them for a list of certified water testing laboratories in your area.

Coliform Bacteria Test Kit

Before…

In order to know what type of filter or what filtering capabilities you should purchase, invest (yes, we said invest) in a thorough water analysis performed by a qualified water testing laboratory. Here, again, we suggest contacting your local board of health and asking them, for a list of certified drinking water testing labs. Alternatively, or if no labs exist in your immediate vicinity, you can use the services of accredited water testing companies such as National Testing Labs.

No matter what, though, always have your water tested BEFORE deciding on a water treatment system. Oh, and one more thing: Don’t think for one second that a salesperson doing an in-home water test has the same water testing tools or qualifications as a reputable water testing laboratory. Remember: 99% of all salespeople attempt to sell things and not accurately analyze a situation — especially if accurately diagnosing a situation could cost them a sale!

And after!

As ‘J. Mampilly’ has done, we should ALL take an interest in comparing the quality of water that comes out of our water filter systems. Only then will we know if the money we invested in (not spent on!) a quality drinking water filter system performs as expected.

Testing water quality beforehand gives us not only an idea of what we need to filter out of our water, but also a checklist of water quality parameters to monitor post-filtration. Should follow up water testing reveal that these ‘issues’ did not get corrected or suddenly show up months after the installation of a water system, perhaps the water filter has stopped working or never really worked properly in the first place and needs service of some sort.

And in conclusion…

Many people go through life ‘deaf, dumb and blind’ when it comes to the quality of their water — until an (initially) unexplainable health problem pops into their life. Then, and unfortunately sometimes too late, those same people get very interested in the quality of their water and want to punish or otherwise penalize others for allowing them to consume tainted, polluted and/or contaminated drinking water.

Although we feel much sympathy for the victims of poor quality drinking water, most of us here in the United States have the ability to at least once every great while perform basic testing for critical water quality parameters such as heavy metals (i.e. lead, mercury, copper, iron, etc.), coliform bacteria, pesticides (i.e. atrazine and simazine), chlorine levels (free and/or total), total hardness, total dissolved solids, and many others.

Many times the contaminants in a water supply will have no taste, carry no odor and not appear before the naked eye. Only testing will alert you to their presence.

Seemed odd at first (several years ago), but after getting asked the same thing so many times we eventually came to the conclusion that a good number of people really and truly don’t know what questions they ought to have about the quality of their drinking water.

Therefore, for your reading pleasure we will now give a list of the 10 most popular topics on Water Testing Blog for the month of August (2011):

1. Free Chlorine, Total Chlorine and Combined Chlorine
    
2. Testing for Fluoride in Water
    
3. Converting Hardness: Grains per Gallon to Parts per Million
    
4. What is DPD?
    
5. Chlorine Testing: Drinking Water vs. Pool Water
    
6. Simple Chlorine Testing Meter
    
7. Dirty Pool Water Can Make You Very Sick
    
8. Testing for Chlorine in Drinking Water
    
9. Lead in Soil
    
10. Private Well Water and Natural Gas Drilling

In no way does the above list begin to scratch the surface of what curious folks read on our site, but it may help you decide what questions YOU want answered… and if you come up with a question or topic you’d like us to address, send it to us using our submit a comment/question form.

It did, however, kind of shock us that hydraulic fracturing (aka: fracking), a means of extracting natural gas from shale buried deep beneath the Earth’s surface, came in so low on the list given the amount of (bad) publicity hydraulic fracturing has received in the past few years.

We also found it somewhat odd that bacteria in water did not make a single appearance in the list but then again, most folks in the United States have city/municipal water and make the assumption that city/municipal water couldn’t ever contain something as common as bacteria — and that, friends, can sometimes become a dangerous assumption to make!

Science Project Water Testing Kit

Free and Total Chlorine in Water Test Kit

Nitrates and Nitrites in Water Test Kit

Pesticides in Water Test Kit (Atrazine/Simazine)

Heavy Metals in Water Test Kit

Coliform Bacteria in Water Test Kit

]]> http://test-for.com/blog/2011/09/popular-water-testing-topics/feed/ 0 http://test-for.com/blog/2010/12/clean-water-for-christmas-%e2%80%94-chlorine-removing-bath-ball/ http://test-for.com/blog/2010/12/clean-water-for-christmas-%e2%80%94-chlorine-removing-bath-ball/#comments Thu, 16 Dec 2010 01:54:27 +0000 Water Testing Blog http://watertestingblog.com/?p=3369 Before you WASTE money buying that expensive gift basket of bath scents and bath oils for your mother, sister, aunt, or uncle Wanda… we want you to consider the possibility that free chlorine and/or chloramines may ruin all those beautiful scents you will choose.

Fact: As an oxidizer, chlorine in any of its forms will viciously attack the chemical compounds contained in bath scents and bath oils. Those aggressive nature of those attacks by a strong oxidizing agent renders the scents less potent and in some cases may drastically alter the way they smell.

The Rainshow’r Bath Ball makes taking a leisurely bath a whole lot better and more enjoyable by removing bothersome chlorine from your bath water before use. Simply swish the ball around in the water for around 2 minutes (or hang it directly in the water flow from your faucet as you fill the tub).

While many other methods of removing chlorine from bath water require adding some sort of attachment to the plumbing leading to your tub but not the Rainshow’r Bath Ball which effectively removes 90% or more of total chlorine and leaves you with healthier bath water.

How do I see if my water contains chlorine?

The easiest way involves using a simple set of test strips such as the WaterWorks 2 Free & Total Chlorine Test Strips which will allow you to test for both free and total chlorine at the same time and get results in under 30 seconds.

What else makes the WaterWorks 2 Test Strips a good product? Simple: WaterWorks 2 Test Strips allow you to quickly and easily determine if your water contains just free chlorine, a combination of free chlorine & chloramines, or just chloramines.

How does that work? Just subtract the free chlorine concentration from the total chlorine concentration and you get the chloramine concentration. As an example, water with 2 ppm free chlorine and 3 ppm total chlorine contains 1 ppm chloramines.

Refills for the Rainshow’r Bath Ball?

Each Rainshow’r Bath Ball comes with a crystal pouch good for roughly 200 uses depending upon how much chlorine your water contains.

What happens after 200 uses? Pop open the ball, take out the old crystal bag, and put in a new Bath 2000/3000 Crystal Bag. Simple as that.

View the Rainshow’r Crystal Bath Ball Manual for additional product information.

NSF Standard 177 Certified Basic Rainshow’r Shower Filter

New Century Shower Filter & Bernoulli Shower Head

]]> http://test-for.com/blog/2010/12/clean-water-for-christmas-%e2%80%94-chlorine-removing-bath-ball/feed/ 0 http://test-for.com/blog/2010/12/india-drinking-water-kits-allowed-to-expire-before-distribution/ http://test-for.com/blog/2010/12/india-drinking-water-kits-allowed-to-expire-before-distribution/#comments Thu, 09 Dec 2010 13:03:04 +0000 Water Testing Blog http://watertestingblog.com/?p=3312 It sickens us to read about valuable resources such as water testing kits sitting idle on shelves so long that their components age beyond expiration dates… especially when it happens in an economically depressed or otherwise challenged area such as rural India.

Forget about the wasted money. Think, instead, about the waterborne illnesses that water quality testing could possibly have prevented. THEN think about the money spent treating those diseases which more than likely exceeded the cost of the test kits by ten or twenty-fold!

These kits were meant to test water samples to ensure clean and drinkable water in rural areas. But in eastern Uttar Pradesh’s Gonda district, the field testing kits — provided under the Rajeev Gandhi Rural Drinking Water Mission — were not used till their expiry date.

The kits, worth around Rs 25 lakh, have now been rendered useless. The district administration is conducting a probe as to why the kits were not distributed on time. ( source )

Water testing kits have expiration dates and we suggest that anyone who owns a test kit check the dates on reagents periodically to make sure all reagents have adequate shelf life remaining. While some reagents have very long shelf lives, others (i.e. certain liquid test reagents) lose potency very rapidly and must get replaced often.

As an example, Phenol Red & OTO reagents found in most basic 2-way pool water test kits should get replaced each new swimming season and/or if they sit in direct sunlight for too long, sit for too long with their caps not put on tightly, or get stored near strong oxidizers such as chlorine or bromine.

While on the topic of replacement reagents for pool water test kits, if you own a Taylor Pool Water Test Kit, you will definitely want check out this Taylor Test Kit Reagents Page before next pool season begins.

In conclusion

You count on your water test kits to tell you if you have safe pool water and safe drinking water so it would only make sense that you would want the components in that kit working at optimal levels. Expired test kit reagents may or may not give you the performance needed to guarantee accurate, dependable results!

“My husband and kids have no manners. We live in a place where temperatures hit the high 90′s for a good part of the year and since our tap water pretty much stinks (literally! yuck! so much chlorine!) we bought a Riviera filter by Brita and so far it has worked out GREAT — except that my family can’t seem to figure out how to refill the friggin’ thing so that when I get home I can have a glass of water, too! Do they make a larger pitcher or do I need to go out and get another Riviera and write my name on it?”

Ha ha. We have all grabbed a carton of milk or orange juice out of the fridge only to find that it had no weight and no contents. Now a similar heartbreaking event happens with filtered drinking water? What’s this So annoying! Well, lucky for you some folks at Brita must also have lazy family members because Brita does actually make a larger version of its very popular Riviera model.

The Riviera holds approximately 64 ounces of filtered drinking water at most which makes it kind of heavy when full so rather make a larger pitcher, Brita decided to make an in-fridge water dispenser called the Brita UltraMax Dispenser capable of holding an additional ten full 8-ounce glasses of cold, refreshing filtered drinking water more than its cousin the Riviera.

Brita Riviera Pitcher Water Filter

Brita UltraMax Water Dispenser

What do these Brita filters remove/reduce?

Both the Riviera Pitcher Filter and UltraMax Dispenser use the OB03 Water Filter, a filter certified by the NSF and the Water Quality Association to reduce levels of copper, mercury, cadmium, chlorine, and zinc in drinking water.

What NSF Standards does the Brita OB03 water filter certify to?

A very good question! While cruising around the web we found a number of sites claiming that the Brita OB03 water filter does a number of things… that we could NOT verify on the NSF, WQA or Brita web sites.

Therefore, we proudly present certification information about the Brita OB03 water filter that we COULD verify:

1) The Brita OB03 water filter has certified to NSF/ANSI Standard Number 53 (Health Effects) for the reduction of Copper, Mercury and Cadmium.

2) The Brita OB03 water filter has certified to NSF/ANSI Standard Number 42 which deals with the reduction of specific aesthetic or non-health-related contaminants (chlorine, taste and odor, and particulates) that may exist in drinking water for the following: Aesthetic chlorine, taste & odor, and zinc.

3) None of the three web sites mentioned earlier say anything about the OB03 having certifications for it’s ability to remove lead or volatile organic compounds (VOC’s).

The US Environmental Protection Agency has set the Maximum Contaminant Level (MCL) for free chlorine at 4.0 parts per million, also known as milligrams per liter (mg/L).

The most commonly used test for free chlorine residual uses a reagent called DPD (what is DPD?). More specifically, it requires DPD-1 and DPD-1 comes in several different forms: liquid, powder, tablet and reagentstrip form.

DPD-1 ReagentStrips eXact Chlorine Photometer

DPD-1 Powder Reagent

DPD-1 Tablet Reagents Liquid DPD-1 Reagent

]]> http://test-for.com/blog/2010/12/dpd-based-free-chlorine-testing/feed/ 0 http://test-for.com/blog/2010/12/question-chlorine-in-my-shower-too-high/ http://test-for.com/blog/2010/12/question-chlorine-in-my-shower-too-high/#comments Sat, 04 Dec 2010 02:04:20 +0000 Water Testing Blog http://watertestingblog.com/?p=3221 We get questions about chlorine all the time. Usually people want to know if their water has any chlorine in it, how much chlorine it contains, how they can reduce the chlorine in their water, why their water has chlorine in it, and if the chlorine in their water poses a health risk.

Today’s ‘question’ hits a lot of those same points in a new, and somewhat confusing manner. It comes from TamTom18894: “Our shower water contains a lot of chlorine and we think it too high. Yes?”

Not sure how TamTom thinks we will figure out the answer to their question since we have no interest in going to their home and testing their shower water… so we will, instead, discuss simple ways to test chlorine levels in tap water so they can figure out the answer on their own… and then list a few ways to reduce the levels of chlorine that they find.

First, test the water for chlorine residual. The simplest method we know of requires very little time and tests for both free and total chlorine at the same time. The WaterWorks 2 Free & Total Chlorine Test Kit provides fast, dependable results for both free and total chlorine concentrations in water within a minute.

For those who prefer a more ‘traditional’ method, such as a wet kit that uses DPD as its reagent, you probably either already have a kit you can use or you know where you can get one… but did you know an easier method of getting the DPD into your 10 mL sample exists?

If not, then you really ought to check out the DPD-1 ReagentStrip Delivery System which adds a precise dose of DPD-1 to a 10 mL sample without the need for crushing tablets, working with hard-to-open powder pillows or counting drops of messy liquids.

For more precise results, some people turn to meters such as the eXact Chlorine Photometer which can test both free and total chlorine concentrations from 0 to 11 ppm w/ no tablets to crush, drops to count, or powders to mix.

Once you know how much chlorine you have in your water, and what variety of chlorine you have in your water, you can then set about the task of selecting a water filtration device that will best address your individual water quality needs.

Removing free chlorine from shower water

The easiest way involves adding an inline shower filter such as the Sprite High Output Shower Filter which you place behind your existing shower head. It removes: 98.9% of free chlorine, rust from water, sulfur smell, and bad odors. Additionally, it reduces iron oxide, chlorine vapors, and scale build-up on shower surfaces.

Don’t already have a shower head? Need an excuse to get rid of your existing shower head? You can get the same NSF / ANSI 177 Certified shower filter pre-fitted with a good looking, 2.5 GPM shower head. The Sprite High Output Shower Filter (-A) comes in three finishes (brushed nickel, chrome and polished brass).

Removing combined chlorine (chloramines) from shower water

Many devices will claim to remove combined chlorine, total chlorine and/or chloramines. We want you know that in our experience (thus far) we have yet to come across a shower filter that will perform that task. Inline shower filers simply do not have the required amount of filtration media required to do a good job removing chloramines from shower water.

Chloramines have a high amount of chemical stability and as such require special consideration when attempting to remove them. Typically a device capable of effectively reducing chloramines (combined chlorine) levels in drinking water will have a relatively large media bed of Granular Activated Carbon (GAC) and/or a specialized ion-exchange resin.

Larger media beds mean more time in contact with the filtration media intended to remove the chloramines.

We have rumors of ‘catalytic granular activated carbon’ (cGAC) but have not, as of yet, learned enough about it to discuss its merits and/or shortcomings.

Oh, and did we also mention you have the option of easily adding subtle, tasty flavors to the purified water it produces?

What importance does NSF Certified have?

Getting back to what really matters when it comes to a water filtration system, the PUR Pitcher Water Filter with PUR Flavor Options has passed independent laboratory testing and certified to NSF Standards for its ability to reduce levels of the following nasty water contaminants (if present to begin with):

• 2,4-D Reduction
• Atrazine Reduction — test for atrazine
• Benzene Reduction
• Cadmium Reduction
• Carbofuran Reduction
• Carbon Tetrachloride Reduction
• Copper Reduction — test for
• Cyst Reduction
• Mercury Reduction — test for mercury
• Simazine Reduction — test for simazine
• Tetrachloroethylene Reduction
• Toluene Reduction
• Trihalomethanes (TTHM) Reduction
• Chlorine Reduction – Aesthetic — test for total chlorine / test for free chlorine
• Nominal Particulate Reduction, Class I
• Taste and Odor Reduction
• Zinc Reduction — test for zinc

The PUR Water Filter in this water filter pitcher was successfully tested and certified by NSF International against NSF / ANSI Standards 42 and 53.

No, this filter will not protect your family against EVERY possible drinking water contaminant, but it does offer a decent amount of protection against some truly unpleasant compounds that don’t belong in your water.

Know what contaminants your drinking water contains

The best thing to do before ordering a water filter of ANY size, brand or type… Get your water tested to find out what you need to remove! If you have serious reason to suspect your water contains contaminants, consult with a certified water testing laboratory with proper accreditation. A lab like that will have the equipment and expertise to accurately assess any risks posed by contaminants in your water.

As an example, National Testing Laboratories, a water testing lab certified to perform water testing in pretty much every State in the US, offers three different water testing packages as well as a host of other contaminant-specific tests to the general public.

Click here to view National Testing Laboratories residential water testing packages.

National Testing Labs 27 Parameter Test Kit

National Testing Labs 83 Parameter Test Kit

National Testing Labs 97 Parameter Test Kit

]]> http://test-for.com/blog/2010/12/question-nsf-certified-water-pitcher-filter/feed/ 0 http://test-for.com/blog/2010/11/should-you-test-your-water-if-you-have-citymunicipal-water/ http://test-for.com/blog/2010/11/should-you-test-your-water-if-you-have-citymunicipal-water/#comments Thu, 18 Nov 2010 13:03:46 +0000 Water Testing Blog http://watertestingblog.com/?p=3036 We get asked this a LOT. Quite a few people write in ask things like, “I have city water, but it tastes funny. Should we test it?” or “The water in my town tastes different on different days. Is that a problem?”

In both cases, and so many more, we would suggest getting a test kit such as the Water Quality Test Kit made by SenSafe or the All in One Water Test Kit made by WaterSafe… and doing some preliminary testing of their own.

In most cases people complaining about city water will have problems caused by contaminants such as dissolved metals (i.e. lead, iron, copper, etc.), chlorine content (free and/or total), total hardness (calcium and/or manganese), and/or rotten egg smells caused by dissolved hydrogen sulfide.

If you get unusual or questionable results, definitely seek the services of a certified water testing laboratory; preferably one not affiliated with a water filter system distributor.

What about bacteria?

We also get asked quite often about the likelihood of harmful bacteria showing up in tap water. Despite the efficiency of modern water treatment facilities and the exemplary track records most have when it comes to the quality of the water they produce, one must always remember two things:

1) Accidental machinery malfunctions can occur.

2) City water travels through lots and lots of piping before it gets to your tap… meaning it passes over thousands of joints where leaks in the pipes could allow the introduction of dangerous bacteria.

If you suspect for any reason that your water supply may contain bacteria, although home drinking water test kits work well as screening methods, times like this call for the services of a certified water testing lab.

You local health department can suggest a water testing laboratory in your area or you can use a mail order laboratory such as National Testing Labs.