How to test for alkalinity in freshwater with Taylor test strips
What is it? Alkalinity in freshwater refers to the water’s capacity to neutralize acid or resist decreases in pH.
Why is it important? The alkalinity of the water is environmentally important because it helps to keep fish and other aquatic animals within the range of acidity that they are able to tolerate.
What does it mean? Water alkalinity is measured in terms of an equivalent concentration of calcium carbonate in a water sample:
- 10 mg/L: Very Low
- 11-50 mg/L: Low
- 51-150 mg/L: Moderate
- 151-300 mg/L: High
- > 300 mg/L: Very High
How to test
Taylor teststrips are part of a number of Water Rangers' testkits. They measure pH, chlorine, alkalinity and hardness.
- Rinse sample cup 3 times.
- Shake out 1 test strip, close bottle. IMPORTANT! Make sure your hands are dry, since moisture in the container will ruin strips.
- Dip the entire strip in the water in the sample cup. Remove after 2 seconds.
- Wait 20 seconds before reading results.
- Compare colours with guide on side of bottle. Line up the colour strips vertically so that you can compare along the spectrum for each value.