Test Your Drinking Water

actionjackson · April 16, 2018, 2:36am

Today @Tron and I used an at home water testing kit from Home Depot, H20 Ok, to test the front fountain drinking water at DMS.

We have a class this Thursday, 4/19, where you can bring a bottle of your home’s drinking water and test what it may or may not contain. I just posted the event on the calendar so expect to see it Tuesday Morning.

Results
pH: 5

Chemical	Parts Per Milion (PPM)
Total Hardness	100
Total Chlorine	0.5
Alkalinity	80
Nitrite	0.5
Nitrate	5
Copper	1.0
Iron	0.3

Procedure

Water Testing

References
Visit their site to learn the effects of each chemical, Common Drinking Water Contanminents and Condititons to learn more.

Josh_Melnick · April 16, 2018, 2:38am

amazing! ACTIONjackson

LukeStrickland · April 16, 2018, 2:44am

Would you be able to test front fountain vs tap from sink? I’m curious if the filter does anything

actionjackson · April 16, 2018, 2:45am

we should. if you don’t want to bring water from your home, then we should totally sample this for the class this thursday.

LukeStrickland · April 16, 2018, 2:47am

70 year old home in Dallas? No thanks, I’d rather live in ignorance haha

Bill · April 16, 2018, 4:16am

I wish I had known about this. I would have kept some of that yummy ultra-chlorinated stuff which brought Erin Brockovich to town…

Raymond · April 16, 2018, 3:02pm

You better have kept it in a dark room. Sunlight helps break that down.

Photomancer · April 16, 2018, 3:33pm

Does anyone know what a “full” analysis would cost? And by whom? I think this is something we may want to explore having done - if needed we can add the filters that take out harmful items including cysts and other nasties on the drinking fountain and kitchen sink(s). Or we can just do it with something like this:
https://www.costco.com/Premier-UF3-3-stage-Ultra-Filtration-System-Replacement-Filter-5-pack.product.11489081.html

actionjackson · April 16, 2018, 4:04pm

Agreed. We couldn’t find any lead testing kits at Home Depot except for paint. I’m sure we can order better test, but baby girls pockets aren’t that deep. Thanks for the material, we will read through it and invest in better tests.

We will be allowing those who sign up, to do free testing, this thursday, 4/19 at 7:30 pm in the science area.

jswilson64 · April 16, 2018, 4:11pm

All of this. People were freaking out when NTMWD did their “chlorine burn” and pointing to total dissolved solids as some indicator of “we’re all gonna die.” All the TDS tells us is we have hard water. Duh. Glad I spent money on a test kit to tell me what I can tell by looking at my shower head.

And if anyone really wants to get up in arms about the “chlorine burn,” remember: NTMWD met all applicable standards for average chlorine level during the burn. If one wants better water, one’s gonna need better water standards, meaning “more regulation.”

jast · April 16, 2018, 4:24pm

North Texas Municipal Water District, for us unwashed.

darrent · April 16, 2018, 4:48pm

Came across this link as I was paying my water bill today. Haven’t read the report. Details appear to be on page 3 of the pdf.

actionjackson · April 16, 2018, 5:36pm

Class is now on the calendar

Test Your Drinking Water

Kriskat30 · April 16, 2018, 5:40pm

I think it’s an excellent way to get people involved with Science. Thank you guys for putting this on the calendar.

actionjackson · April 19, 2018, 4:26pm

Two spots left for tonight’s class, https://calendar.dallasmakerspace.org/events/view/5817

The test should take no more that 10 minutes. Please bring a bottle of your home’s drinking water. If you forget, lets try testing water around DMS or better yet, your favorite water brand.

Brian · April 19, 2018, 5:55pm

Where I grew up (rural South Dakota) the state schools provided that service.

Tens to a few hundred. Basically, each test has a cost. Ideally, the set of tests performed focuses on a set of possible contaminants. For example, someone using well water on a farm is not going to test for chlorine compounds and someone using city water is unlikely to test for cow-related bacteria.

I believe Texas A&M has a testing service.

actionjackson · April 20, 2018, 5:43am

Thanks to all who came out tonight. Some people brought some of their own water, for those who didn’t we bought water from Park’s Pantry and tested those instead. We’re hoping that we test for lead and bacteria in future tests.

Please Review this document Common Drinking Water Contaminants and Conditions to learn more.

Results

DMS Kitchen Water

Contaminnents	Parts Per Million (PPM)
Total Hardness	100
Total Chlorine	3
Alkalinity	40
Nitrite	—
Nitrate	0.5
Copper	0.6
Iron	0

Parks

Contaminnents	Parts Per Million (PPM)
Total Hardness	450
Total Chlorine	0
Alkalinity	80
Nitrite	0
Nitrate	10
Copper	0.6
Iron	0

Nature’s Crystal

Contaminnents	Parts Per Million (PPM)
Total Hardness	0
Total Chlorine	0
Alkalinity	0
Nitrite	4
Nitrate	0
Copper	1
Iron	0

Fiji

Contaminnents	Parts Per Million (PPM)
Total Hardness	250
Total Chlorine	10
Alkalinity	40
Nitrite	0
Nitrate	0
Copper	0.6
Iron	0

Dallas Public Water

Contaminnents	Parts Per Million (PPM)
Total Hardness	250
Total Chlorine	1
Alkalinity	80
Nitrite	0.5
Nitrate	5
Copper	0.6
Iron	0

Photomancer · April 20, 2018, 2:27pm

What scale is being used for Alkalinity? How does that translate into pH?

Curious, is 0 = to pH 7?

actionjackson · April 20, 2018, 2:52pm

I forgot to add in the pH field on the worksheets, so thats why you don’t see the pH recorded.

What the alkalinity is measuring is the amount of carbonates (ppm) in the sample, not the actual pH. The amount of carbonates within your sample determine if your water has the capacity to neutralize acids.

JurieP · April 23, 2018, 3:53am

Glad to see the interest and I did not participate in the class. However, I want to draw caution to the quality of the test kit for delivering any accurate results.

Fiji probably represents the best control sample here. Fiji water has no detectable levels of copper and has no detectable levels of chlorine. In fact, chlorine levels above 4 ppm in a swimming pool would be considered elevated levels. At those levels, you’d probably approach experiencing eye and nose discomfort. There is no possible way bottled water (or regulated tap water) has a 10 ppm chlorine level. Also, the alkalinity level for Fiji should be significantly higher.

You can reference a Fiji test report.