ORP stands for oxidation and reduction potential; it measures a substance’s ability in the process of oxidation and reduction of a substance. It will detect whether a substance is oxidizing or reducing, or we can also say it can oxidize or reduce other substances. Well, we also know that together oxidation and reduction form a redox reaction, so the ORP meter detects redox in a particular element or substance. The electrodes on the ORP meter can detect it, so you can easily tell that if the oxidation and reduction potential meter shows a positive reading, it is oxidation. If the ORP meter shows negative reading, then it is reduced.
Now let’s try and understand the basics of oxidation and reduction basics. If a substance lacks electrons, it will try to acquire them through a chemical reaction, which is a process in which one substance is oxidized and is known as an oxidizing agent, which means the other one will be a reducing agent. It is inversely proportional.
The more ORP reading (positive/negative), the more oxidizing or anti-oxidizing a substance, whereas, when electrons have lots of ions and can even lose some of them to oxidize other agents so they will get reduced, and hence they are referred to as anti-oxidizing agents or reducing agents. In the same way, it is also inversely proportional, like the more ORP reading (positive/negative), the more anti-oxidizing or oxidizing of a substance takes place.
There are various uses for ORP meters :
- They are used in chlorinated swimming pools for water testing; it is a safe way of cleaning the pool and deriving the chlorine level in pool water. The normal chlorine levels in pools are 1-3 parts per million. It measures the sanity activity of chlorine in swimming pools by measuring its ability to oxidize the contaminants in the pool.
- Treatment plants for wastewater have been used for so many years, even in municipal treatment plants, by inserting a probe stick directly into water tanks, and the sensor can measure the electric charge from ions and convert them to negatively charged or positively charged electrons.
- The oxidation-reduction potential meter provides a relative level of water sanitization for drinking water, and the ORP level for drinking water is 650mV and is a safe level to consume water.
- For checking the quality of water in stored places and for future usage, this device can be used to check the impurities and disinfectants in water stored in tanks and from time to time, it helps to keep the tanks clean.
Now as we know, we can adjust the oxidation-reduction potential meter levels and can be adjusted by adding more chlorine into the water so that more antioxidants can be produced. Different brands of oxidation-reduction meters are available in markets providing the best facilities and having good qualities some of the known and verified brand products are HM digital ORP waterproof meter, Myron ultrapen pocket tester for ORP testing, SP-700 ORP sensor module, Myron L ultrapen and temperature, Bluetooth enabled device, Myron pool pro ultra meter services and Myron ultra meter hand-held device are some to the most used devices for oxidation-reduction meters.
Oxidation-reduction potential measures the ability of any water body, be it a river, lake, swimming pool, utensils, water storage tanks, rainwater harvesting pieces of equipment and many more, to clean themselves by the process of breaking down the waste materials such as dead plants, animals and insects in water bodies and contamination of water through bacteria and fungus. When the ORP or redox meter’s value is high in water, there is a lot of oxygen in the water body, which means the bacteria that decompose the dead tissues and plants help the contaminants to work more efficiently. In simple terms, the more the value of the ORP meter, the more healthy the lake or water body will become. When you go deeper into the river, you can see bacterial growth and sediments like mud and stones, which helps to decompose dead tissues; in that place, there will be less oxygen, and the ORP value will also be decreased.
The oxidation and reduction potential meter is a very useful device. It helps scientists know additional information about the purification of contaminated water in lakes and rivers and more about water quality and degree of pollution.
So if you’re looking for a device that can easily help in the purification and sanitization of water bodies in your locality or area or your workplace, then an oxidation-reduction potential meter, also known as a redox potential meter, can be used and easily accessible and available in the market. It can be used for artificial and natural lakes, rivers, stored water tanks and many more. It makes work easy and simple with this device both in houses as well as in big industries.