Industrial Test Systems Quick 481396-5 Arsenic for Water Quality Testing, 5 Tests, 12 Minutes Test Time

This is a good test kit but you have to follow the instructions diligently to get a good result. The water temperature needs to be about 75 degrees Fahrenheit, give or take a little. You can heat the water sample in a microwave oven for a few seconds, if necessary. But it's easy to overheat the sample which will throw off the result. A digital thermometer is a handy thing to have for this kind of testing. The test strips contain mercury and the test generates arsine gas, so you have to test in a well ventilated area, and dispose of the test strips through your municipal toxic waste service (there may be a way to mail the used strips to a toxics handler). This test is for measuring arsenic concentrations between 0 ppb and 600 ppb (i.e. 0 to 600 micrograms per liter). The gradations are fairly coarse in this test. The same company also sells a different edition of the test with a lower range: kit # 481297-5, designed to test 0 to 300 ppb. The low-range test might give you a more accurate measurement -- especially if there is a low level of arsenic in your water. But the low-range kit is twice as expensive. There's even an ultra low-range kit, # 481300, designed to detect between 0 and 20 ppb. This would be the best kit for drinking water testing (there is no safe limit for arsenic in drinking water, despite the EPAs claim that under 10 ppb is safe). But this kit costs over $300. The only viable options I've seen other than these kits is to pay a certified lab (approximately $50 per test).

In the past I have used a professional test lab to provide water quality testing. In many years I have only rarely detected a slight presence of arsenic in our well water, and this test seems to be simpler and cheaper than taking a sample to a test lab.

This was easy to use and helps give peace of mind that your water is safe (or needs filtered depending on results). We have a well system that tested high and after we put in a filter system I wanted to make sure it was safe to drink. Two years later we ordered this and it was easy to use and showed our filter is working! The only reason it wasn’t 5 stars is because there are no gloves provided which would have been nice since you are opening and using different chemicals.

If you've ever wanted to pretend to be Walter White for 15 minutes well this is your chance. This is a complete kit but it is real chemistry so you have to follow the instructions very carefully. You add the water you're testing to the bottle you see. Then in sequence you add three different powdered chemicals from three different pouches or pillow packs as they call them. For each you pour the powdered chemical into the bottle, screw on the yellow cap, and shake the bottle for certain amount of time and let the bottle sit for a certain amount of time. After all the chemicals have been added and mixed in the bottle, you switch to the white cap to seal it, which is like a shampoo bottle cap with a flip top opening in the center. You then take one of the Arsenic test strips and insert it into the flip top opening and fold it down. You then let the bottle sit undisturbed for 10 minutes as the reaction takes place. You'll see bubbles forming in the bottle and there will be some heat generated my bottle got up to about 90 degrees Fahrenheit. After 10 minutes you remove the test strip and compare the color to the enclosed color chart to see what level of arsenic was in the water sample. Of course read the instructions and follow them carefully. What I'm writing here is just an overview to let you assess whether the procedure is too complicated or is something you'd feel comfortable performing. I trust that it gave me valid result and thatmy tap water contains no arsenic.

Ok, it works, mostly. One of my packets of #3 reagent was nearly empty, though - so I lost one of the tests through no fault of my own. Results in the bottom ranges are very difficult to read without great eyes and lighting - and that's where the kit needs to be explicit if it is to be worthwhile in testing water. Be prepared to do a little time and temperature dependent chemistry. The chemicals are toxic, rubber gloves are a good idea, and don't do this indoors especially near food prep areas etc. Avoid windy area to test, too - as the reagents are dusty. Tough to get right the first time, the instructions are not the best, either. Rehearse the routine before actually doing it. I WISH the instructions had read as follows, hope this helps: Temperatures must be from 72-84 degrees F. to begin. Good lighting is needed to run the test. Prepare Sample(s) in amount of 100ml+ if needed. H2S has a half life of 8 hrs – age contaminated samples 72 to 96 hrs. You will want goggles and rubber gloves. All equipment needs to be dry, white cap totally so. Set out a packet of powder 1, 2, 3 reagent (might not be labeled that way - see instructions for alternate names and labelings) and test strip for each test to be run. Place color chart nearby, and something to nip off the end of the packets as needed when the time comes. Set up an accurate timer. Fill sample bottle to midpoint (highest line). Use yellow cap for the following: Add #1, shake 15 seconds. Add #2, shake 15 seconds. Time 2 minutes, meanwhile open foil pack and without touching the square bit at the end of the strip, place strip in open white cap with line showing on top next to cap and white pad hanging down into cap. Close the cap lid and set aside on a clean surface. When 2 minutes is complete - Add #3, shake 5 seconds, wipe any moisture from thread top of bottle and then cap with the prepared white cap NOT letting it get wet. Time 10 to 12 minutes, no more or less. Uncap, remove white strip and immediately (30 second limit) compare it to color chart to determine inorganic arsenic content. Record result. Dump sample safely away from food prep areas, and rinse bottle and yellow cap with clean water and shake dry. At the end, air dry bottle and yellow cap – do not allow zinc to build up or it will stick to the bottle and be next to impossible to get rid of without sacrificing a bottle brush. -Good Luck-

It was simple enough to use if instructions are closely followed. We tested store water, our well water that was known to have arsenic, and filtered water from our new system. Well water was highly contaminated as expected, store water and our "new" filtered water tested virtually the same with barely traceable arsenic contamination. Very satisfied.

I did not get good results, It just did not work. Ended up sending to a regular lab

I had some old pressure treated lumber that I wasn't sure if it was treated with CCA or ACQ process. I wanted to test for arsenic before I considered using it for raised gardens. This kit was relatively easy to do that, just followed the instructions and came up with a positive for arsenic (see picture) which I kind of expected on this old suspected CCA PT lumber. I also did a test on newer ACQ lumber which showed no signs of arsenic, and also made me feel like this test kit worked properly.