On Wed, 22 Feb 2006 15:59:28 -0600, "Koi-Lo"
wrote:

Jungle's Quick Dip sticks! Worthless... I called the water co. and spoke
to them about the high nitrates coming from my tap. Uh oh,... these
quick-dip sticks are very, very off.

My reading was 20ppm nitrates and his was .34ppm = what a difference!
My PH reading was 7.8 and his was 7.2.
My alkalinity was 300+ and his was 220mpl.

Just an example.... I may as well toss these $12 worthless sticks in the
trash can.

He suggested I use the other type of kit and not the Quick Dip type. In his
opinion they're the least accurate. I could have bought a nice goldfish for
that $12.

Yeah, there should be a warning on those dip sticks. They are used for
all sorts of things in (human) health care settings, but they're not
expected to give precise results. A positive or out of whack dipstick
reading is an indication that more precise testing needs to be done.
They have their place, cheap, throwaway, easy learning curve, but
their readings are only approximations. Their accuracy is also
affected by storage conditions, age, humidity. Drop type test kits are
more accurate, and even among them, some are better than others. As
the price goes up. I'd be curious to learn if your water guy
recommended a specific brand for home testing.

-- Mr Gardener