Is there a simple way to test the amount of salt found in water?

Question

I just had a well drilled and I have had it tested for coliforms and e.coli and they are absent, but I think it tastes salty. Can I test for this myself at home?

Answer 1

boil it, if you boil away a gallon and you have more than the recommended daily intake for an adult at the bottom of the pot then its too much.

Answer 2

Not easily. One way might be to use an ohmmeter to measure the resistance of a sample; you would need to devise a means of fixing the position of the leads so that they don't move. Dump the sample, rinse with distilled water, fill with distilled water to the level you had before, and add a measurable amount of salt. When the conductivity matches, you're done. A better way, if you can lay hands on some silver nitrate, is to add some to a measured quantity of your water. If there is salt, you will get a white precipitate of silver chloride. In principle, you could weigh this, and use that to determine the amount of salt present. Boiling the water will show the total mineral content present, but not what it is.

Answer 3

There are meters sold for use with swimming pools and fish ponds, but they cost about $80 and up.

The second link below suggests a cheaper test, but not very accurate.

Or, you might boil a known amount, in a glass jar, until it is all boiled away. (Boil it gently, so that the salt does splatter up the sides or out of the jar.) Then see how much and what kind of residue is left.

WARNING: put the jar in a pot of water, and boil it gently, so that the salt does not splatter up the sides or out of the jar. You don't want the jar to go dry while its directly on a heating element. Microwave might work?

Answer 4

The same lab that tested for coliform should be able to test for sodium at a reasonable price 15.00-20.00 also new wells need lots and lots of water pumped thru that alone may solve the taste problem.

Answer 5

The simpliest way is to taste it!
When you go to a fast food restaurant to have breakfast, take a few extra packs of salt and on your way back home, buy a few bottles of water.
In bottle 1, add 1 pack of salt. In bottle 2, add 2 packs of salt.......Taste your home water and compare it to the salt water that you just made, then you can estimate how much salt is in your home water.
This method is not very scientific but it is cheap and simple.

Answer 6

To test the amount of salt in water you would have to boil it until only salt is left. If it's in a well then that will be a little complicated.

Answer 7

You can check the conductivity (resistance) with a meter. By taking distilled water and stirring in a bit of salt at a time, you can compare the percentage.

Answer 8

yeah desalinization its where you take salt out of water its pretty expensive to take out salt water from an entire well but i guess you could just test it

Answer 9

It would be too complicated