Expert: Florence M Rollwagen - 5/27/2009

Question
Hi,
I am a grade 11 chemistry student. For my assignment i must test the water qualities of two substances. I have searched everywhere on the internet for methods on how to test the quality of water, yet i havn't found any methods. Apart form Ph levels, is there any other type of test i can conduct on water? if you could please just give me the name of the test, and i could google it myself that would be very helpful.

Thanks you so much for your help
Regards
Rishan

Answer
Hi Rishan:  Thanks for your question.

There are many things that can be tested for in water, such as pH, as you mentioned.  There are also other contaminants, such as bacteria, lead, pesticides and chemicals.  

A good place to start might be with information from several water test kit sites such as this one:
http://www.ionizers.org/water-test-kits.html

I don't know what materials are available to you, but I'm sure you are clever and inventive.

Hope this helps, please write back if you have more questions.

FM Rollwagen, PhD