Pond Boss Forums GENERAL QUESTIONS Water chemistry Water testing kit

Are there any good water testing kits I can buy online? I would like to test the water quality of the water in my pond.

Mike c, Laguna master test kit, about $25.00

I have been looking as well. I bought a cheap pH kit last week and tested water. The kit did not go high enough for my water!

I spent several hundred bucks on a Hach kit. On one of the tests, it said to read it when the water turned pink. How pink is pink? OK, I tried swimming pool strips. Then I sent a sample to TAMU and the pool test strips weren't far off. Your mileage may vary.

Hach is your best bet. Their test kits are the norm in water chemistry and are used almost exclusively in all types of industrial water analysis and control. They make kits for all type of analysis, from single element, to wide range programmable units. The kits come with pH and / or conductivity meters and range from wet chemistry titrations to direct read colorimeter or photometers.

David,
The end point on a titration is usually at the 1st indication of the color change. If you are talking about a phenolthalein alkalinity end point to determine hydroxide alaklinity, then you read at the 1st indication of clear turning to pink (reverse titration) or from pink to clear (acid titration). For hardness titration, you need to titrate to a completely blue end point where the pink color is completely gone. If you question the results, go slow near the end point and watch for the color change. Run the test a few times and average the results.
Mike

Mike, can you translate that to Texican?

Aggie or UT?

DD my attempt to translate, your result for alk is when it first turns colros from the color you started with. I think Texan might be similiar to Georgian speak.

Add one drop at a time and wait till the color changes. If you think you over did it, do it again.

Hullabalou conek conek

I've never tested the water in the pond, so it looks like it's time to start.
Without spending a whole bunch of $$, what's the opinion on:
LaMotte Dissolved Oxygen Test Kit combined with Laguna Master Pond Test Kit? If I get those two kits, am I missing something?
Are there test kits that are more cost effective?

Where should the sample of water be taken from (top, middle or bottom of the water column), or does it matter?

How often should I test?

Lamotte uses the winkler method it is ok for DO. I feel the Laguna kit is a piece of junk , it is not accurate enough to get you much useful informatoin but for sure not godo enough to monitor hardness. You will not need to test hardness/alkalinity but once every year at most if you get it above 20 ppm with enough lime added or it is above that level naturally in your area. dissolved Oxygen (DO) can be tracked daily if you like same as pH. No real reason to track ammonia, nitirite, nitrate in most cases.

So I suggest getting a lab (county extension)to run your results so it is accurate on alkalinity/hardness. Then sure grab the lamotte kit to have it for DO readings as needed.

Thanks Greg.