Testing the tests 2

On 6 February, I had another round of testing the cheaper version of tests and also part of my equipment in the terrain. The testing locations were the same as before with addition of the two ponds in the Redhouse Park in Great Barr. This time I had used different test strips of brand HJKLDBI, which sells on Amazon. I have a strong vibe, this item was produced in China, but I did not manage to trace this brand back (I did not try hard enough). My purchase price was £14.58, but as of now the item is currently unavailable. For this price, I received amazing 100 strips with 16 tests each. Furthermore, there were two small bottles for microbiological analysis with a reagent inside them (likely a mixture of sodium thiosulphate), which I could test on selected waters myself.

As I had now an Apera pH 20 meter, Hofun TDS and conductivity meter and Dimanco SCM dipslides available, I had a great opportunity to recheck the strange non-results of the Tespert microbiological tests. Also, having experienced the elements last time, I had opted for collection of samples and follow-up measuring at home rather than in the terrain. This in addition gave me the opportunity to debunk or confirm claims of hydrolysis testing.

I have not tested every water the same way, as I was testing multiple devices straight after each other and I was getting used to them. Furthermore, the hydrolysis device can be dangerous to say the least and I had to focus on this device to avoid electrocuting myself or burning my home down. For those reasons alone, I cannot recommend this device to anyone to buy. The price is rather low, less than £10, it heats up water with the electricity from the grid and causes a very quick corrosion process. I think, it can be used to scare people to purchase some sort of water treatment, since its capacity to turn non-deionised water into mud of greyish substance is very consistent. For those reasons, I am not going to be using this device any further and I am not going to provide any links here.

The results are as follows:

What my testing unveils is the unfortunate unreliability of the testing strips. It was happening consistently, that the water leaked from one square to another, creating a colour trail and some values seem too similar to one another.

Red house park tests are apparently connected water bodies, which is confirmed with the values of the Total dissolved solids and conductivity on the Hofun device. This unfortunately cannot be stated about the testing strips, which do involve too much guess work. Also, Hardness values were close enough only when testing my domestic sink and the Forge Mill Lake. This is probably because of the merging of colours on the strips as described above.

As stated above, please beware of testing your water with a cheap hydrolysis tester which uses power from the grid. The following photo is from my domestic sink water. The device and water were dangerously hot as I was testing this water first and I did not know what to expect. The waters from the outdoors samples had all a very similar result. I cannot stress enough, DO NOT USE DEVICE BELOW:

The microbiological tests were a success this time. The 17 in 1 tests gave one strongly positive result and the Dimanco SCM dipslides had all turned positive. This invalidates the Tespert microbiological tests from the November testing. Although, there is obviously not enough evidence for such statement. Follows the photos of results of River Tame.

For Escherichia Coli, the best confirmation I had in the Swan Pool. It appears as pink glow in the black light.

To summarise the results. The microbiological tests were this time a success. HJKLDBI brand had changed colours each time, and on one occasion it gave a warning. The Dimanco results were much more thorough, and also gave out positive results of E. Coli bacteria ones.

The hydrolysis device as a cheap tester can be summarised as a scam with a risk of electrocution and involuntary arson.

Furthermore, the testing strips of HJKLDBI brand were not as messy as the Tespert testing strips from multiple small bags. However, the HJKLDBI 16 in 1 testing strip did not provide a reliable result in comparison with Apera pH 20 and Hofun TDS meter. Also only three out of 16 values were readable at all. That makes £14.58 (or whatever this test could be for in the future) just a waste of money.