Nitrate Test kit

[Scubajoe1]

So does anyone know of a nitrate test kit what actually uses colored vials for standards? Much easier to compare colored liquid from a glass vial to another glass vial od liquid as opposed to comparing a liquid to a color on a paper.

Thanks

Joe

[zzz111]

So does anyone know of a nitrate test kit what actually uses colored vials for standards? Much easier to compare colored liquid from a glass vial to another glass vial od liquid as opposed to comparing a liquid to a color on a paper.

Thanks

Joe

I don't but, if you have to have that, you can make your own NO3 standard and use say Salifert reagents to make a colored liquid for comparison. That's what I did, and that did help a lot in educating me how to "read" those color shades. You'll need a somewhat accurate digital weighing scale though, you'll need one anyway if you want to make your dosing liquids. Hint, digital scale will not only be used to weigh chemical powders like KNO3, but also your RODI or distilled water in making your standard, don't use any volume based measurement device to measure your pure water in this case, they're hard to read and oftentimes way off.

[bertoni]

I don't know of one.

[Scubajoe1]

I don't but, if you have to have that, you can make your own NO3 standard and use say Salifert reagents to make a colored liquid for comparison. That's what I did, and that did help a lot in educating me how to "read" those color shades. You'll need a somewhat accurate digital weighing scale though, you'll need one anyway if you want to make your dosing liquids. Hint, digital scale will not only be used to weigh chemical powders like KNO3, but also your RODI or distilled water in making your standard, don't use any volume based measurement device to measure your pure water in this case, they're hard to read and oftentimes way off.

Thanks. Yeah luckily I am a chemist with access to all the fun toys. Made a 100 ppm solution then diluted that to 10 ppm then made a 5, 4, 3, 2, and 1 ppm standard. From there I used a UV vis diode array spectrometer and made a calibration curve. What I learned from that and reading it from a colored paper was that I was way over-estimating my nitrates. I am usually in the 1-2 ppm range. I really cannot understand why hanna does not make a nitrate test kit using their collimators. I called and asked and they said something about the chemistry but unless it's patented that explanation did not make sense.

I was looking for something I can do at home instead of taking it into the lab each time and using the UV-vis. I would make the colored standards but they only retain their correct color for a little while and I don't want to make up 5 standards and a sample every time I do it hence the need for a color standard that would hold its color or a small digital hanna type colorimeter. Maybe they don't have a diode that reads at that wavelength. That sounds more believable.

[zzz111]

Thanks. Yeah luckily I am a chemist with access to all the fun toys. Made a 100 ppm solution then diluted that to 10 ppm then made a 5, 4, 3, 2, and 1 ppm standard. From there I used a UV vis diode array spectrometer and made a calibration curve. What I learned from that and reading it from a colored paper was that I was way over-estimating my nitrates. I am usually in the 1-2 ppm range. I really cannot understand why hanna does not make a nitrate test kit using their collimators. I called and asked and they said something about the chemistry but unless it's patented that explanation did not make sense.

I was looking for something I can do at home instead of taking it into the lab each time and using the UV-vis. I would make the colored standards but they only retain their correct color for a little while and I don't want to make up 5 standards and a sample every time I do it hence the need for a color standard that would hold its color or a small digital hanna type colorimeter. Maybe they don't have a diode that reads at that wavelength. That sounds more believable.

Wow, meet the real weapon dealer :-)

I'm not sure if the diode is color sensitive, isn't it the filter gel they stick to the diode that selects wavelength?

[Scubajoe1]

hmmmm, gel filter would make sense. I have not taken apart mine yet to see how it works. :-). I will call today and see if I can chat with someone else at Hanna for more details.

[Scubajoe1]

Sent an inquiry to Hanna today to see why they have not developed a nitrate Hanna checker yet. Stay tuned.

[natas]

I really hope someone comes up with a digital reading for nitrate that is accurate *Hanna. I am colorblind and have major issues trying to read any of these Nitrate testers.