[zoee]

 im zoe im a grade 12 chem student.....i need help.. basically i need to develop my own kit that tests the alkalinity of water at a creek near my school....any hints / websites that will help me with this....thanks heaps....zoee

[AWK]

Start from:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alkalinity

[Custos]

Hi Zoe. It's easy to measure the alkalinity of creek water if you have pH paper or strips. If you search for "pH test strips" on the internet you will find lots of places selling them (e.g. here).

Since your creek water is likely to reasonably neutral (I hope!) you will want pH strips in the 6-8 range. Then you can just test the water to find out the pH. 7.0 is neutral, anything above is alkaline anything below is acidic.

[Borek]

Alkalinity and pH are different things.

[zoee]

well we have to developed and assemble this kit to measure the alkalinity of the creek. i need some information on the sort of things i need for this kit like the chemicals. thank youu any help would be greatttttttt 

[enahs]

How about some of the many chemical indicators you know of and might have used in lab.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PH_indicator
And then a series of known standard solutions of pH.

You can then compare the water in question with the standards.


Litmus strips would also be helpful. It would allow you to know if it is acidic or basic without wasting any indicator, or doing any real mess.


I of course would just go and buy some pH test papers my self!
http://www.indigo.com/science-supplies/ph-paper.html
I link that site so Borek can be all happy, as they give a link to his program!

[Borek]

How about helppping yourself:

http://www.google.com/search?q=alkalinity+determination