In many different industries, but particularly in food and beverage production, water test strips and used for determining water hardness as well as water pH. These issues are of concern as changes in the pH of the water or when there is excessive calcium carbonate or magnesium carbonates in the water can change chemical reactions.
Why Testing is Important
Chemical reactions in distilleries, food production and even in the production of a specialized type of products can impact the quality or the taste of the final product. It can also have an impact on the shelf life of the products and may impact the risk of bacterial growth either in the product or in the system.
Depending on the cleaning solution used for both clean in place or clean out of place equipment, water hardness and pH may also impact the specific performance of the cleaning chemicals. Testing before using these products
With the use of simple, easy to read water test strips, an approximate pH and water hardness range can be detected in just a few minutes from start to finish. With the best test strips, the actual test itself is able to be read in just seconds. Additionally, other test strips can be used to check for the presence of residual cleaners in a variety of industries and applications.
Semi-Quantitative Results
One important factor to keep in mind is that water test strips provide a semi-quantitative result. This is a color change on a reagent or indicator pad that is compared to a color chart provided on the bottle and packaging for the strips.
This will not provide the exact, precise results, but rather it will provide a gradient of ranges through the use of water test strips. This gradient or range will be specific enough to make the necessary adjustments to cleaning chemicals or to adjust the process to accommodate for different water hardness and pH.
