Can Water Be Tested By Someone With Mild Color-Blindness?

[rickpo]

I suffer from mild red-green color blindness - I have a hard time distinguishing small differences on some pads on water test strips, although I think I can see things well enough to keep my water in mostly decent shape.

I want to upgrade to a real water test kit, but before I fork over the bucks, I thought I'd ask if color blindness will make reading the results harder than reading test strips. Brightness helps me. Are there kits where the color matching is brighter than others? Or are there techniques that make it easier to distinguish subtle color differences?

I think color blindness is fairly common - are there folks here who test their water with less-than-perfect vision?

Thanks in advance!

[chem geek]

The Taylor K-2006 test kit uses a FAS-DPD chlorine test where as you can see in the demo you simply count drops until the sample turns from pink/red to clear which is something you should be able to see.

The pH test will likely be a challenge since it is based on hue, but it goes from yellow to orange to red so perhaps will be OK for red-green color blindness. Look at this page at the phenol red colors in the middle that go from yellow to red. Can you easily distinguish each of the colors in this range?

The Total Alkalinity (TA) test may be the most troublesome for you because the color change goes from green to red. Calcium Hardness (CH) goes from red to blue. Take a look at the demos in this link where you should click on the "Pool / Spa" category on the left and scroll down (below the media player) to the "K-2006 Complete™ Kit with FAS-DPD" and look at the demos, including pH, TA and CH (you've already seen FAS-DPD above).

The Cyanuric Acid (CYA) test is a turbidity test so should not be a problem for you -- well, at least no worse than for everyone else. It's a tough test though one eventually gets the hang of it. In addition to watching the demo, you can look at this link to see how the black dot disappears when viewing from the top. It is best to view this while standing outside with your back to the sun so that you shade the tube in front of you looking down into it (i.e. you want strong indirect light).

Hope this helps.

[Larry K.]

You could also check out the Lamotte Color Pro, they have a digital readout, I like mine...

http://lamotte.com/pool_spa_water/pool_spa_professional_products/colorq_photometer_kits.html

[allamericanhottub]

I suffer from mild red-green color blindness - I have a hard time distinguishing small differences on some pads on water test strips, although I think I can see things well enough to keep my water in mostly decent shape.

I want to upgrade to a real water test kit, but before I fork over the bucks, I thought I'd ask if color blindness will make reading the results harder than reading test strips. Brightness helps me. Are there kits where the color matching is brighter than others? Or are there techniques that make it easier to distinguish subtle color differences?

I think color blindness is fairly common - are there folks here who test their water with less-than-perfect vision?

Thanks in advance!

That is a great question. I think it opens the door to a great business opportunity - test strips that have + or - like a pregnancy test instead/addition to the color

[quantumchromodynamics]

That is a great question. I think it opens the door to a great business opportunity - test strips that have + or - like a pregnancy test instead/addition to the color

As Larry K noted, there are photometer kits that read the colors for you, such as the LaMotte Color Q series.

[rickpo]

Hope this helps.

Thanks CG, that helps a ton. It's certainly no worse than the test strips I've been using, which is good enough for me to give it a try.

[rickpo]

You could also check out the Lamotte Color Pro, they have a digital readout, I like mine...

http://lamotte.com/pool_spa_water/pool_spa_professional_products/colorq_photometer_kits.html

Thanks, Larry. They are a little pricey, but this might be a great way to go. I just hope the digital reader has better eyesight than I do.

[quantumchromodynamics]

Even if you get a digital reader, you should still get the FAS-DPD test. It is the best and most accurate test for chlorine, and it is easy to see the change from color to no color, for most people.

[glennmacph]

You could also check out the Lamotte Color Pro, they have a digital readout, I like mine...

http://lamotte.com/pool_spa_water/pool_spa_professional_products/colorq_photometer_kits.html

[glennmacph]

do you find your meter to be accurate for fc - tc = cc

any tricks you learned for accurate measurements?????????????

PH and ALK are not time sensitive but I think fc is!!!!!!!!!!!

[Dr. Spa]

That's

tc-fc=cc

TOTAL chlorine - FREE chlorine = COMBINED chlorine

[pete ottawa]

I am a chemist and I am also mildly colorblind!!!! So went directly to the Color Q....expensive but no guessing for me!!!