Rapid PACKTEST

Rapid PACKTEST is commonly known as PACKTEST. This test is a simple onsite method of testing water quality which produces amazing results in a split of a second. It does not require complicated analytical techniques to determine the quality of water. Concentration of heavy metals, precious metals and any other elements and compounds in the water are detected using this method. pH of water can also be determined using this method. Water in this case can be a flowing creek,settling ponds, pool beside vats or heap leach pads, mine pits etc.

     PACKTEST Results for Pihema Creek, 

      Morobe Province.  Cyanide Detected

       (Dark-blue).

The results indicate the concentration of elements intended to test in the water which also influences the pH of water. The readings will give an estimated range of figures and do not have to be exact. Readings are taken with confidence in accuracy of about 90%. To obtain exact results, further laboratory testing is recommended.

It is recommended that Pact Test should be practiced by all government regulators in the extractive industries especially in the Mining and petroleum industry. This will greatly help during statutory inspections which can give results instantly onsite rather than waiting for results in the laboratory after few weeks or months. This will also be a alert for the industry to treat waste water effectively or improve on their waste water treatments and monitoring techniques.

The process and the setup of the testing method are outlined below.

Sampling Procedure for PACKTEST

1.            Fetch water in container and filter the water using syringe and 0.45µm filter to filter water sample and pour filtered water sample into a clear mini cylinder.

2.             Remove the colored line at the top of the tube to clear the aperture.

3.            Press tube's sidewall to expel air, and hold the tube.

4.            Immerse the aperture of the tube into the water sample in the mini cylinder and release to fill the tube halfway.

5.            Shake the tube slowly for few seconds.

6.            Wait for the reaction time as indicated in the instruction manual, and then compare the actual color in the tube with provided Standard Color. The nearest color indicates the concentration value (mg/L = ppm) of the analyte in your sample.

 The above Figure is a simplified diagram by
KYORITSU CHEMICAL-CHECK Lab as a guide.

Note: Cyanide is tested differently. Before the above procedure is applied, first of all dissolve the mixing reagent into the filtered water in a small enclosed translucent cube of about 2cm x 2cm x 1.5cm in size. Finally immerse the cyanide reagent into the solution and release to fill up the tube. Shake the tube and record the reading after 8 minutes.

The reaction times for each element or compound varies from seconds to minutes. Reaction time for cyanide takes longer than any other elements or compounds. It could be other elements or compounds as well but during the tests conducted by the reporter indicated that cyanide took longer than other elements.

It is recommended that PACKTEST should be conducted on site. It would be a bad practice if sample is taken from a different spot and date and tested on different date and location as the results would not represent the sample location and time. If you do then be aware to note the results and anticipate error in the readings recorded.

Other Equipment for testing water quality includes but not limited to pH meter, Turbidity Meter. pH meter is for measuring the pH level of water  and also measure the temperature of water. Turbidity meter measures turbidity of water and also temperature and metal conductivity in the water. 

Turbidity is the measure of suspended particles of sediments flowing under or through the water. It could be steal water or running water.