Washing test vials with tap water

[BlueCollarJoe]

Does washing test vials with tap water and letting them air dry leave behind trace ions that will give false readings for future tests?

 

[ReeferTCG]

Ive been using tap and air dry. If it does Im looking more as a trend. Dont want to be spending my precious RODI water

 

[DmitryB]

One instruction I saw on some test kit was to rinse the vial in tank water before doing the test.

 

[oakcityreefer]

I rinse once with tap/well water and then rinse/shake with RODI and air dry on 3D printed rack. At least if my test is off it should be consistently off

 

[BlueCollarJoe]

Ive been using tap and air dry. If it does Im looking more as a trend. Dont want to be spending my precious RODI water

agree!

 

[BlueCollarJoe]

One instruction I saw on some test kit was to rinse the vial in tank water before doing the test.

Interesting, I'll have to read my instructions. I went by the pictures

 

[BlueCollarJoe]

I rinse once with tap/well water and then rinse/shake with RODI and air dry on 3D printed rack. At least if my test is off it should be consistently off

Not a bad idea, the final rinse should "zero" it all out

 

[ReeferTCG]

Ive been using tap and air dry. If it does Im looking more as a trend. Dont want to be spending my precious RODI water

agree!

Also might be wrong but…. home test kit are not that accurate to take readings of dried tap water

 

[slingfox]

I rinse twice with tap and do a final rinse with some RODI from a squeeze bottle.

 

[Dan_P]

Does washing test vials with tap water and letting them air dry leave behind trace ions that will give false readings for future tests?

One reason for not using tap water followed by air drying is to avoid spots on the glass if the water has a high mineral content. One Hanna test that might detect water spots that contain calcium is the Hanna calcium test. And maybe, if the tap water contained a high concentration of phosphate, the Hanna phosphate test might read high.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

I typically use tap. Then shake them out well, but I agree with the water spot possibility for some folks.

I know there’s nothing in my tap that tiny traces of anything left will skew my nitrate and phosphate tests.

 

[56longroof]

I rinse out with tap and dry them with a paper towel.

 

[Reef Jedi]

I rinse out with tap and dry them with a paper towel.

This

I rinse with super hot tap water and dry with a paper towel also, works great and leaves no spots

 

[Evensong]

I rinse with tap water, fill once with RO/DI, give it a good shake, let them dry in their box, and then rinse them in tank water a few times before filling with the water sample. Also keep a microfiber towel handy to wipe down the outside of the vial for my Hanna checkers.

 

[Gumbies R Us]

I rinse out with tap and dry them with a paper towel.

This is exactly what I do!

 

[LeftyReefer]

I store all of my test vials full of RO/DI water.

when I do a test, I just dump the vial of RO/DI into my tank, and then fill the vial with tank water from in front of one of the powerheads in my DT, dump it, refill, dump it, refill, then test. So I basically do the 3 rinses with tank water before any test.

after running tests, I wash all my test vials/caps in tap water in the sink and then shake them dry best I can.
I then dip them into a bucket of RO/DI water to fill them with RO/DI. I then cap them and put them in my vial rack for next time.

I keep a 3 gallon bucket with RO/DI near my testing station for filling vials.
I dump it and refill it every couple weeks.

I'm sure it's overkill, but it's become habit.

I did just pick up a new adjustable pippete that I'm also excited to start using.

 

[Mandarinkeeper]

I store all of my test vials full of RO/DI water.

when I do a test, I just dump the vial of RO/DI into my tank, and then fill the vial with tank water from in front of one of the powerheads in my DT, dump it, refill, dump it, refill, then test. So I basically do the 3 rinses with tank water before any test.

after running tests, I wash all my test vials/caps in tap water in the sink and then shake them dry best I can.
I then dip them into a bucket of RO/DI water to fill them with RO/DI. I then cap them and put them in my vial rack for next time.

I keep a 3 gallon bucket with RO/DI near my testing station for filling vials.
I dump it and refill it every couple weeks.

I'm sure it's overkill, but it's become habit.

I did just pick up a new adjustable pippete that I'm also excited to start using.

I do basically the same method as you and it works great! I used to rinse them with RO/DI water and dry them on a 3-D printed rack. Occasion I’d still get a water spot and I’m also creating more clutter waiting for the test tubes to sit and dry! Now I just fill them up with RODI water when I’m done, wipe them off with a microfiber towel and they’re ready to rock next time. I saw a YouTube video from one of the aqua shells shows that featured the Hannah rep and he basically does the same thing.

 

[carri10]

If you rinse the vial in test water a few times before using, then any residue from the tap water rinse at the end of use will be washed away. I always fill and empty my vials with tank water three times before taking sample. However, trace left by tap is not going to make any difference given the errors inherent in hobby testing - both test and user error.

 

[Azrael83fr]

I think it depends a lot on how careful you want to be and which test you are doing.

For a normal routine, I don’t think tap water + a good final RO/DI rinse is a big problem, especially if you rinse the vial with tank water before taking the sample. The bigger issue for me is water spots or any film left on the glass, especially with Hanna-style optical tests.

When I want to clean vials more seriously, my best results have been with warm vinegar, then a very thorough RO/DI rinse. I only use soap if there is something greasy or stubborn, because soap residue can be harder to remove than simple mineral spots.

My routine would be:
- rinse after use
- occasional warm vinegar cleaning if needed
- multiple RO/DI rinses
- let dry or store clean
- wipe the outside with a clean microfiber before testing

For me the key is consistency. Even if the method is not perfect, doing it the same way every time helps keep the trend more reliable.

 

[jackintheboxfish]

I rinse with tap but my tap water is pretty soft and clean except for chloramine and some copper (still in the ppb range). But yeah I think hobbyist level test kits don’t have enough accuracy to be too affected. Also I only use test kit results as a ball park or to see trends