Hi from Belgium

[MacZ]

RO & seiryu stones or RO & rainwater?

Either water with the stones.

JBL proscan is known to be faulty. The fact that it gives you the same numbers for NO2/3 and Chlorine in both readings although rainwater can't contain either in such numbers is a clear sign. Chlorine actually has to be read from strips immediately and the other two have probably mixed.

But otherwise the GH/KH and pH numbers are as expected.

 

[dw1305]

Hi all,

rainwater:
NO2: 0.25 mg/l
NO3: 25 mg/l
GH: < 3° dH
KH: 0° dH
PH: <6
Chlorine: 0.8 mg/l

Edit: what @MacZ says.

Don't take this the wrong way, but you don't have any chlorine (Cl2), or anything like those levels of nitrite (NO2-) or <"nitrate (NO3-)"> in your rainwater. <"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/0004698186901678">

....... Measurements of nitrite in urban rainwater collected in the U.K. are reported. These agree with earlier measurements in Japan, Bangladesh and the U.S.A. and show that nitrite is only a minor species in rainwater, being present at 0.012–0.181 μg ml−1 (~ 1 % of the nitrate).......

This is a Dutch paper on nitrate (from 2001) <"https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/11693556/">

Nitrate in 15 of 16 analyzed natural springs was found to exceed the guideline value for nitrate in drinking water of 50 mg L(-1), up to levels of about 200 mg L(-1). Nitrate concentrations in rainwater samples were observed up to 4.5 mg L(-1) (Mg / L = ppm_

Personally I've never tested rainwater with anything like that amount of nitrate and it is almost always undetectable,

If you had a conductivity reading, let's say 30 microS (~20 ppm TDS), you would know that you had very little of anything. That is why conductivity "works" as a parameter, it may not be the parameter you would like to know, but it will be accurate.

This is also why I wouldn't make decisions based on test kit results.

I'm not anti-testing. I actually look after a lab. with analytical equipment, where we run a lot of water samples.

cheers Darrel

 

[darua]

Don't take this the wrong way, but you don't have any chlorine (Cl2), or anything like those levels of nitrite (NO2-) or <"nitrate (NO3-)"> in your rainwater.

Sure, I wasn't concerned about these values to be honest. I was just happy that the GH & KH were significantly less or close to 0 in my rainwater.

It means that if I'm sure that I've no lead or copper (the best way seems to me to look at my gutter or pipe?), I can use my rainwater to do water changes or quick top ups for my water level.

That is why conductivity "works" as a parameter, it may not be the parameter you would like to know, but it will be accurate.

My TDS meter arrives next week

JBL proscan is known to be faulty.

Is there any other brand that makes strips that aren't faulty, lots of them looks similar to me.
I've chosen JBL proscan in the past because I could track my results easily in my app but I also had questions on how accurate a camera could check the colors...

I do see that most of the (online) shops also offer their own "brand" of strips, most of the times way cheaper than the common big brands, don't know if I can trust those either...

 

[dw1305]

Hi all,

I do see that most of the (online) shops also offer their own "brand" of strips, most of the times way cheaper than the common big brands, don't know if I can trust those either...

That is the problem really, most test strips will give you a <"ball park"> figure at best.

Titrimetric (drop) tests are likely to be more accurate, but there are issues with a lot of the monovalent ions (K+, NO3- etc), because they don't form (m)any <"insoluble coloured compounds"> that you can use for colorimetry or spectrophotometry.

You can test for all the parameters you might be interested in (like a water company can), but you would need a lot of time and money.

Have a look at <"https://www.ukaps.org/forum/threads/what-is-the-“duckweed-index”-all-about.73647/#post-742163">

cheers Darrel

 

[MacZ]

Is there any other brand that makes strips that aren't faulty, lots of them looks similar to me.
I've chosen JBL proscan in the past because I could track my results easily in my app but I also had questions on how accurate a camera could check the colors...

The strips are not the problem. It's the app.
Strips tell you 2 things and nothing else provided you use them properly*:
A. Is a certain thing present? Yes/no?
B. Is it a lot or little?

That is all you do with test strips. The numbers can be ignored. It's a quick check e.g. whether there's NO2, NO3 or Chlorine and if the water is rather hard or soft. pH is so unreliable with strips, you can just ignore it. More than a "high" or "low" is not possible with them. If the results are concerning you always have to repeat test with a more reliable/accurate option.

*i.e. you prevent the water from different test fields from mixing by taking it off from the side with a paper towel.

I would trust Sera and JBL just from experience but without the apps, the strips by Tetra and API are rubbish app or no app.

 

[darua]

The strips are not the problem. It's the app.
Strips tell you 2 things and nothing else provided you use them properly*:
A. Is a certain thing present? Yes/no?
B. Is it a lot or little?

That's clear

If the results are concerning you always have to repeat test with a more reliable/accurate option.

I do have a sera test kit with drip tests, if I want to check something more in detail, but never used it tbh

*i.e. you prevent the water from different test fields from mixing by taking it off from the side with a paper towel.

It's difficult to not let them mix indeed

I would trust Sera and JBL just from experience but without the apps,

Unfortunate I still have 48 strips for the ProScan... Might replace it when I run out of test strips but it's quite unhandy that I don't have the option to use it with the color card without using the app. I don't have values on the bottle that explains everything (smart from business standpoint but not for the customer friendly)

 

[MacZ]

Unfortunate I still have 48 strips for the ProScan... Might replace it when I run out of test strips but it's quite unhandy that I don't have the option to use it with the color card without using the app. I don't have values on the bottle that explains everything (smart from business standpoint but not for the customer friendly)

You can buy a pack of their normal strips with a colour scale, they're the exact same strips.

 

[MacZ]

I think I have an empty pack with the colour chart somwhere. I'll be at my partner's place for the next two weeks, but I could send it over by mail when I'm back if you like.

 

[darua]

I think I have an empty pack with the colour chart somwhere.

I did throw away one of these this week, I've to check if they're already gone with the garbage truck...
It's also from a different brand but the order of the strips looks quite similar to me

I'll be at my partner's place for the next two weeks, but I could send it over by mail when I'm back if you like.

That would be very friendly of you but you certainly don't need to make unnecessary costs for me...

 

[MacZ]

I did throw away one of these this week, I've to check if they're already gone with the garbage truck...
It's also from a different brand but the order of the strips looks quite similar to me

Nope, not gonna work. GH on Sera and JBL has 4 test fields, and it's possible the other coulours vary.

That would be very friendly of you but you certainly don't need to make unnecessary costs for me...

Provided I still have that thing somewhere, it's less than 5€. I can live with that.

 

[darua]

Nope, not gonna work. GH on Sera and JBL has 4 test fields, and it's possible the other coulours vary.

Ok

Provided I still have that thing somewhere, it's less than 5€. I can live with that.

Would be awesome if you still have one and want to send it to me

 

[MacZ]

WHEN I'm back and IF I find it, it's yours.

 

[darua]

WHEN I'm back and IF I find it, it's yours.

I know