What is Copper?
Copper (Cu) is a naturally occurring metal in the earth’s crust and seawater. It can enter water through natural as well as industrial processes. As a highly malleable metal and excellent heat conductor, copper is used in many industrial systems, for example, in piping and heat exchangers. Historically, copper sulfate-based algicides or fungicides were commonly applied to ponds and water supplies; however, environmental professionals now discourage its indiscriminate use.
Why Test for Copper?
While absorbing a small amount of copper in the human body is necessary to be healthy, too much can cause illness. For drinking water, the Maximum Contaminant Level Goal for copper is 1.3 mg/L. Measuring copper is also useful for monitoring the corrosion of copper pipes. As pipes corrode, more copper will leach into the water, which is a major concern within condensate and heat exchanger systems.
About Our Test Kits
CHEMetrics offers visual and instrumental test kits for measuring soluble copper levels in drinking water, surface water, groundwater, wastewater, and seawater.
The CHEMets® visual colorimetric water testing kit turns orange in direct proportion to the hexavalent chromium concentration. Measurements are made against a color comparator. Results are expressed as ppm (mg/L) copper.
The Vacu-vials® instrumental colorimetric test kit also turns an orange color and requires the use of a CHEMetrics direct-readout photometer or spectrophotometer capable of accepting a 13-mm diameter round cell.
Click on a catalog number in the tables below for more information or to purchase a test kit.
Range | MDL | Method | Kit Catalog No. | Refill Catalog No. |
---|---|---|---|---|
0-1 & 1-10 ppm | 0.05 ppm | Bathocuproine | K-3510 | R-3510 |
Range | Method | Kit Catalog No. |
---|---|---|
V-2000 & V-3000: 0-12.00 ppm / Spec: 0-7.00 ppm | Bathocuproine | K-3503 |
Method