Name: Water test strips
Cost: around $18
Intended use
The intended use of the water strips is to test for
- Free chlorine
- Total hardness
- Total alkalinity
- pH
- Total bromine
How to use the water strips?
Dip the strip into the water sample for 10 seconds. Then, hold it still in the air for about 10 seconds without shaking off the excess water. Match up the colors of the strip for water attributes to the back of the bottle to get your readings.
Important tests for poultry drinking water
Free Chlorine: Free Chlorine measures the amount of chlorine available to sanitize water. Try to maintain Free Chlorine between 2 to 5 ppm. When chlorine is added to water, some of the chlorine reacts first with inorganic and organic materials and metals in the water and is not available for disinfection; only free Chlorine will be available for disinfection.
Total Hardness: Total Hardness measures the amount of calcium, magnesium, carbonate, chloride, sulfates, and nitrates. Carbonate-related hardness is called temporary hardness, which can be removed by boiling or lime softening. Non-carbonate hardness includes the presence of chloride, sulfates, and nitrate in the water, which is called permanent hardness; this hardness is to be removed by ion exchange resin or water softener tanks.
