DIY blue-green algae test kits let you quickly check for harmful toxins in dams, lakes, and ponds. Traditional lab tests take weeks and may not reveal toxicity. These 15-minute tests support fast decisions. Test before and after treatment, and seek expert help if contamination is confirmed.
Summary
At-Home, 15-minute DIY Test For Blue-green Algae
Blue-green algae can be a serious problem when you’ve got a dam, lake or pond. Whether it’s for livestock, irrigation, or recreation, you don’t want blue-green algae… and if you’ve got it, you need to know it’s there so you can fix it.
That’s why we want to introduce you to our new blue-green algae test kits. These are fantastic kits you can use at home.
Why Testing Matters
Testing is essential — you’ve got to know what’s in the water before you can treat it. But the major thing with blue-green algae is that you need to test for toxins specifically — there’s a very important difference between testing for algae and testing for toxins. Not all blue-green algae is toxic, and even where you have toxic species, they haven’t necessarily shed those toxins into the water.
That’s why you need to test for toxins. Without testing, you won’t know whether your water is safe for livestock, use in irrigation, or swimming and recreation.
The Problem with Traditional Lab Tests
Traditional lab tests take time to come back. If you want to get your blue-green algae test done in a lab, it’s going to take you at least a week to ten days. It’s going to cost a few hundred dollars, too, and then when it’s done, you’ll get a lab report that says you’ve got x, y, z species of algae. The algae may be toxic, or it may not, but the test won’t tell you if there are actually any toxins in your water.
It tells you what’s in the water, but it doesn’t tell you whether you can use the water or not. That means you still don’t know if it’s safe for your livestock, or swimming, or irrigation. And then you need to get a toxin test done, which is another week to ten days, another couple of hundred dollars.
By the time it comes back, you could have been waiting nearly three weeks without being able to use your water. You’re stuck, unable to make confident management decisions.
A Simple, Rapid-Action Test You Can Do Yourself
We all remember fast-acting COVID tests — these tests are similar. They even look the same. They’re easy to use: take your water sample in the provided sample container and drip it onto the testing strip. After about 15 minutes, you’ll get a result that tells you whether the water is toxic or not. The test detects 11 hepatotoxins common in blue-green algae.
If you want to go and continue lab testing to identify the species of algae to drill down further, you can do that. But when you want information on which to base quick decisions, you really can’t do better than these tests. If you’re planning on swimming, it’s a good idea to test the water to make sure that the algae in the dam isn’t toxic.
I recently took the kids away for an Easter break. We went up to a lake for a long weekend, and I saw algae in the water — the whole lake was like green pea soup. There were people skiing in the water, and I thought, “not a great idea. Let’s check this out.” The water had a bit of a musky smell, and to me, it looked like blue-green algae.
But to test that on a Good Friday afternoon, when no lab’s going to be open, no council work is going to be done? Impossible. I carry this stuff around with me because it’s what I do, and because I had tests with me, I could test. It gave me the confidence to let the kids swim in the water.
These tests are life-savers. When you have livestock and you don’t know whether the water’s safe, this test will allow you to determine that in about 15 minutes. It gives you space to make rapid decisions, and puts the testing in your hands — no waiting around needed.
If You Do Find Toxins
Blue-green algae is toxic, and if you do get a result confirming toxins in your water, be extremely careful. You should follow these instructions if it happens:
- AVOID skin contact with blue-green algae-contaminated water
- DO NOT allow animals to drink from the water
- TURN OFF fountains, spraying equipment, sprinklers, etc that may spread infected water
- DO NOT use infected water for irrigation or any other purposes
- DO NOT eat or rub your eyes without washing thoroughly in uncontaminated water
- DO NOT eat fish or crustaceans caught from an infected water body
- DO treat the blue-green algae
Test Before and After Treatment
We recommend testing before and after treatment. If your test says you have algae and no toxins, and then you treat, you might think it’s safe. But what can happen with blue-green algae is that even if you do have algae in the water, you don’t necessarily have toxins in the water.
After you go and then hit it with an algaecide or a very rapid treatment to try and get rid of the algae, it can, as part of its defence mechanism, start shedding its toxins. So you can actually encourage toxins to be put in your water by treating it.
Whenever the algae’s gone and you’re still not sure if the water is safe, test again. And keep testing until you get a negative result.
Tools for Confident Management
These DIY, rapid-response blue-green algae tests give you the confidence to make management decisions. Whenever you need to know if you have toxins in the water, these tests will tell you — and they’ll do it in 15 minutes. They’re an absolute lifesaver.
Need Water Quality Help? Contact Us
If you’re interested in biological treatments, aeration, or other systems, get in touch with us. We’re always happy to help. We can assess your site, offer FREE advice, and design practical, effective solutions that work for you.
