| abstract |
The present invention is a colorimetric method, and kit therefore, for determining the level of elemental contaminants in a water source. In a preferred embodiment, the method comprises: (a) sampling a discrete amount of water to be tested, (b) contacting the water sample with a solid material having high specificity for reversibly binding to, or complexing with, the element to be detected, (c) separating the element-containing solid from the water sample, (d) eluting the element from the element-containing solid with an eluting solution, (e) adding a cation-containing solution capable of freeing the element to be detected from the eluting compound, (f) adding a buffer, (g) adding a colorimetric material capable of indicating the amount of metal present in the solution, (h) adding an oxidation-fixing reagent, and (i) estimating the amount of metal in the sample by comparing the solution to provided color standards. The invention is particularly useful as a kit for applying the method for testing home drinking water for lead content. |