Water Balancing Tools

Brad White_191

If just pH, sure, litmus paper or "electronic litmus paper" would be fine. Metermart.com may be one place to check out.

If you are testing for total dissolved solids, conductivity or other properties, there are testers for those too. Hach chemical is another source of information.

J.A.

Water Balancing Tools

I know a simple way to test water quality is to get the ph paper test from a pool supply store. However, I seem to remember a picture of an electronic tester Dan showed at his seminar. Any idea (or links) where I can find one of those? Has anyone used one before and can they recommend a brand or does the paper work better than anything else?

tim smith

ww grainger has quite a few meters available

give them a try.

Brad White_203

EDIT

metermall.com, not "metermart"

http://www.metermall.com/product pages/pH-water quality/pH pocket meter.htm

J.A.

re: EDIT

Thanks, that metermart.com came up all kinds of crazy, thought it was a joke. As for what I want to test, I was primarily concerned with the ph balance. While I don't believe I have a problem, I'd like to be proactive since this is something simple I can check. The old "ounce of prevention worth a pound of cure". Should I bother with anything else other than ph?

Brad White_191

Unless you have a specific target

I would stick with pH and TDS. If you have real concerns, send a sample to a water treatment center- local county extension might do that.

You could also call George Hunt at Rhomar Water in MO. George better knows the questions to ask.

J.A.

Water Quality Testing

Brad and Tim,
Thank you for your help and suggestions as both www.grainger.com and www.metermall.com have exactly what I'm looking for. I know why I want to know the pH balance of the water in my steam system, because if it is too high or too low it will affect the efficacy. I am unsure of the benefit of testing for TDS. My guess would be that particles in the water can cause a problem for the system. I know and try not to add new water to the system while the boiler is hot, but besides draining the crud out once a week I don't see any way around what is already in the water (besides filtering the water that I put into the boiler but that seems impractical). I now want to know the TDS level of the water in the interest of science, but can you expand upon it further?
Thanks