Experiment: Chlorine/pH Levels of Tap Water in Vero Beach, FL vs. filtered water
Conducted by: Peter Orrick
Date: June 2009
Purpose
My parents’ tap water had a chlorine smell to it, so, for the fun of it, I tested the chlorine levels. I was also curious since high levels of chlorine are not beneficial for most (if any) plants and the tap water was being used to water houseplants.
Materials
- Standard pool chlorine/pH tester kit [This tester has been used for a long time (many years). The chlorine side of the tester is stained light yellow. This was taken into account when visually estimating the reading from the chlorine/bromine test-solution reaction.]
- Puritec Purity UC-12 under-sink tap water filtration system
Procedure
Results
Analysis
After 13 hrs with cap on and 15 minutes of evaporation, Vero tap water’s chlorine and pH levels almost matched exactly the levels of my swimming pool water. After sitting out with cap off for 2 days, Vero tap water’s chlorine level was more acceptable for human intake. Filtered water, as expected, had the most desired chlorine level of 0.0.
Conclusion
If you’re going to drink Vero’s tap water, give it to your pets, or use it on plants, let it sit out for at least 24-48 hrs. This is good practice for most tap water across the US as most cities chlorinate their tap water.
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