I wanted to Buy a Digital Water Tester on Amazon but I did not know if they are any good.

I See People use them on YouTube and they Stick them in Say a Glass of Water.

But are they not any good and not to get one?

 

hi bi,
What does it test for.?
Do you have any data or a link.?
E

 

Are you talking about a dissolved solids tester?

 

Measuring the pH of water shows if it is alkaline or acidic and how much. It does not test for poisons or salts.

 

...are they not any good...

Good for what? TDS, PH, temp and Conductivity.

To what purpose do you want to measure these parameters?

 

"Water Tester" is such a broad term that it is rather useless. As others point out, the question is "testing for what???" I can test water for conductivity with my ohm meter, which is probably what the advertised tester does. But what does that tel you??? Not much, unless you are using it to immerse electrical systems to cool them.

So the very first question about any water tester must be: "What is it testing for?" Oil?, salt? bad chemicals? Arsenic? lead?? or germs and microbes and parasites?

Tests for most of those require some equipment and take some time to see the results.

And keep in mind that most of what you see on yoo-toob is entertainment, no matter what they tell you.

Really, what do they say when they stick the sensor in a glass of water? A cyanide solution will test about the same as a glass of slightly salty water to a resistance tester, but it will leave you dead.

So I suggest not trusting anything for sale or recommended on you tube. A better choice is the website of a good sporting goods store, one that sels camping and hiking equipment. They will have water filters and from those descriptions you can learn what the hazards are. They might have water testers, but probably not.

 

Well let Me Ask this First about Hydrometers?

I See on YouTube how to use a Hydrometer to Test a Car Batteries Electrolyte Level.

And they Show You when the Float goes to Colored Levels what it is Telling You.

Then I See a Type of Hydrometer used to Test Alcohol Drinks.

This Type is just a Flat Disc with a Long Stick under it.

But this Type of Hydrometer does not take in the Fluid to make a Float move.

What is this Type?

 

It is the same as a car battery hydrometer, without the surrounding glass enclosure to contain liquid. The weight is immersed in the fluid, and pulls the stick down until the specific gravity of the fluid balances the weight. Then SG is read off the scale on the stick.

 

OK, what does a hydrometer tell you about a liquid? It tells you the density in terms of "specific gravity", which is a handy way to compare the density of liquids when they are all close to the same value. The battery and radiator antifreeze hydrometers are glass tubes, while the hydrometer for drinks is not, simply because neither battery acid nor engine coolant are OK to drink. But they all work on the same principle of floating in a liquid to determine it's density.

 

It is not cear to me how most of us would benefit enough from having a digital hydrometer to make it worth accepting if it were free. How often do we need to know the density of a liquid accurately???