Field Kits & Devices

Coming Soon

What this page covers

You do not need a laboratory to test river water. A growing range of affordable field tools — from simple colour-change test strips to handheld digital meters — can give you meaningful readings on-site within minutes. This page maps what is available, what it is good for, and what its limitations are.

Coverage will include:

• Dissolved Oxygen (DO) meters: the single most important field device for river health — how they work, accuracy range, price range in India, and recommended models for NGO budgets
• pH meters and test strips: the difference between digital meters and strips in terms of accuracy and field practicality
• Turbidity tubes and meters: how to measure water clarity and what the reading tells you about sediment load and treatment needs
• Nitrate and phosphate test kits: colorimetric kits used in citizen science programmes — accuracy, shelf life, and protocols
• Multi-parameter handheld analysers: devices that measure several parameters simultaneously — who they are for and whether the cost is justified for volunteer groups
• Sampling equipment: collection bottles, preservation techniques, and chain-of-custody basics for samples destined for a lab

Recommended starter kit for a volunteer group

For a small volunteer group testing a local stretch monthly, a reliable DO meter, a pH meter, and a turbidity tube covers the three most informative parameters at a combined cost that most NGOs can justify. This page will include a curated starter-kit recommendation when the full article is published.

Calibration matters

A field device that is not regularly calibrated will give you confident-looking wrong numbers. The full article will include guidance on calibration frequency and methods for each device type.

Full page coming soon

This page is a placeholder. The complete reference will include a comparison table of devices by parameter, price, and accuracy, with sourcing notes for the Indian market.