Detection limit for Wal-Mart kit CH test??

[waterbear]

I usually wait 2 minutes before doing the reading. So if I keep adding indicator, if I have no hardness, the water will eventually turn blue. If I do have hardess, it will turn pink (instead of purple like the instructions say), and then I titrate from pink to blue, then multiply drops by 50 to get my reading?

Basically, yes. The color is sort of a pinkish magenta when hardness is present and blueish when there is none.

[Henrys514]

Ok, thanks. I'll try that tomorrow and see what happens. Oh yeah, and I'll work on getting a better test kit too.

[prh129]

I had a similar problem with the CH test in the WalMart (HTH) 5-way test kit. My TC was in the 3-5 ppm range at the time and the hardness was actually pretty low (10-20 ppm) but the solution turned yellowish when I added the 5 drops of the dark reagent. The CH test in Ben's kit worked without a problem.

Peter

[Henrys514]

Well, i tried the test yesterday...My TC was 5ppm+ (I did some dilution, and got about 9ppm). With 8 drops of the indicator, the water turned this funny pinky yellowish color, so I titrated as usual and got 250ppm CH. I will test again today after work and see what I get. I can hopefully add some calcium today if the rain stops.

[waterbear]

250 ppm CH is fine. Why add more?

[Henrys514]

I'm not sure I trust my test...I tested again yesterday and I got 300ppm this time, and that's after 2+ inches of rain. I didn't add anything yet. I'm going to take the water into the pool store today because I need to get the CYA tested and I'm out of reagent. I'll see what their numbers say, then test my water myself, then I'll post both results, and we can see where we are at.