LaMotte 4-3616 Coliform Test Kit

Happy with the product and instructions............just not happy with my results. After 40 years, had a new 5" well drilled. Sandy soil conditions around 125 feet from a lake in a wooded area. We have a sewer system so we're safe that way. Anyway, First test the county health dept sent said POSITIVE for Coliform but NEGATIVE for E. Coli. OK..... Per the well driller, purge by letting the water run every day for a week and re-test.Again, Positive for Coliform but NEGATIVE for E.Coli. Called the well Driller. Re-Chlorinated the well. Waited 24 hours then ran the water daily for 7 days. Yesterday I took a sample ( after disinfecting the spigot and following instructions) and filled the 5 containers. Test suppose to take 48 hours for results. Containers start out a cranberry red color on the bottom by the tablet to clear water on top. Within 24, It turned yellow, the gel has risen from the bottom to the top and has visible gas bubbles in it and the container's cloudy. What does this mean........TESTED POSITIVE FOR TOTAL COLIFORM AGAIN. I had an old well for 40 years we've been drinking from that was never tested. I cant believe a NEW WELL Chlorinated twice would still come back contaminated. I've researched and all I see is where the reference they the "POSSIBILITY" that your Total Coliform test results has harmful bacteria. NOT THAT IT DOES FOR SURE. To find that out, you need a very expensive test to break down all the bacteria into different categories..........both NON HARMFUL AND HARMFUL. Well, I'm not going to keep shelling out money on tests anymore. I've got a water softening system, a reverse osmosis 3 filter unit under the sink plus another filter on the fridge's water and ice dispenser. Like I said, I've spend 40 years drinking this water with no ill effects as does the other neighbors on this block.I've posted some photos to give you an idea of what I'm talking about. These photos were taken at the 24 hour mark......still have 24 more to go but it's not going to get better.......only worse in color and bubbles.

After completing this test, I am left with more questions than answers. The instructions are poorly written, because they do not provide enough context to explain what is going on and they are not specific enough about the indicators. The instructions say that both a negative and positive sample may have a yellow color. It seems that the only defining indicator is the presence or absence of gas bubbles. They mention that many gas bubbles will be present and the color will be yellow if the sample is positive for coliforms. However, I don't see any gas bubbles present in their picture of a "positive" sample. The only thing I see is that the gel may be protruding from the surface of the water a bit. If we are looking for "many gas bubbles" what size are we looking for? Large, small, tiny? Where will the bubbles be, on the surface, middle, or bottom? Does the gel always protrude from the surface of the water if the sample is positive?When I did the test, I wasn't able to determine what the results were, making this a total waste of time and money. On 2 samples, half the gel rose near the top and the other half remained at the bottom, but the ph indicator remained red. On another sample, it was yellow from the very beginning, as if something was wrong with the ph indicator. Just like the other 2, half the gel rose near the top, while the other half remained at the bottom. I don't see "many gas bubbles", as they put it, in any of the samples. There may be some little tiny bubbles, but that could be left over from when I was running the water in the tube.Something else they leave out is whether or not it is necessary to fill all 5 vials at once. Are the 5 vials considered a single test for a single water source, or is it 5 different tests that can be run on different water sources at different times? I've noticed other people, like me, who bought this test thinking that they could fill 1 vial and save the rest for later. However, the validity of the test may be affected if all 5 vials must be filled at once.Perhaps my results were skewed because of poor handling of the kit. The tablet in 1 of the tubes was broken and the tablets in the rest of the tubes were dusty. This could be due to an old kit, but it hasn't expired yet. It could also be due to rough handling. So now, I am back to where I started, $20 poorer, and still trying to determine if my water has coliform bacteria.

The tablets formed bubbles on them and started floating within a few hours of putting them in the vials. Since bubbles and floating are two of the criteria for a positive test, I began to panic a bit. But I left them undisturbed for the remaining time. By the time it was over, the color was still red (good news), the tablets had sunk back to the bottom, and there were no bubbles to speak of. A confident negative result! If you're anxious about the results, just set up the test and leave the vials somewhere you can't see them for the test duration, and cross your fingers.

Great qualitative test with easy to understand instructions. People need to realize that this test is designed to test for a wide range of coliform bacteria, so there isn't any one way to measure for a positive vial. As the instructions specifically state, look for color change, cloudiness or bubble formation. Minus one star for not being a semi-quantitative test (I note that the instructions suggest that it is similar to a Most Probably Number (MPN) test, but this kit isn't. The only thing is shares with a semi-quantitative MPN test is that it has multiple vials, but that's all. Still a useful screening test.

We bought one of these kits to do our own coliform bacteria test, and it turned out positive. Then, we sanitized our well and bought another kit to test the water. This time, the test was negative (no coliform bacteria found).The instructions couldn't be clearer, and with five vials, it removes any doubt that your sample was taken properly. FOLLOW THE INSTRUCTIONS (sorry, but for emphasis).The only thing I'd like to see is that it go on Amazon subscription, since the kit is so inexpensive, we're going to test every six months.Fully recommended.

perfect product!

Price is more