Review on Blue Upgrade LED Water Quality Test Meter - Pancellent TDS PH EC Temperature 4 in 1 Kit by Jeff Payne

The TDS meter is accurate (I can reproduce my results over time) and probably accurate. I compared the performance of my tap water (currently hovering around 16ppm) to the performance of a fresh ZeroWater filter (it shows 0ppm). Please note that I do not have the laboratory equipment to substantiate this. I also don't have a standardized TDS test fluid. It is not surprising that the TDS meter performs well. Most TDS meters have 2 electrodes and possibly a thermistor. They are easy compared to pH probes! A good probe from an industrial science company costs $65-$135, and pH probes are complex and include special glass, special coatings, ion exchange fluids, storage buffers, etc. Please understand. This is when you buy a pH meter. Your $10 gauge is definitely not going to give you any accuracy compared to a sensor that really should cost at least 5x that. Initially, the pH meter gave me wildly fluctuating results that I could not reproduce. I've read about how to care for probes on other manufacturers' websites and have come to the following conclusion: 1. When you receive your probe, prepare a pH 4.00 buffer solution using the pouch that came with it. a. Use distilled water. Or use water from a new ZeroWater filter. Do not use Brita, Mavea or any other brands as their products are not pure enough. You can confirm this with your TDS meter! b. I made the solution in a clean jam jar and used the front and back of the sachet as labels. Et voilà, sealed storage for the rest of the buffer.2. Wet the probe tip by placing it in a small amount of pH 4.00 buffer solution. Leave for at least 4 hours. Do not soak it in the mother wire jar as the probe will actually leach ions when it comes in contact with any solution.3. Calibrate the sensor setting pH 4.00. When reading a solution: 1. With the probe off (to save batteries), leave the probe in the solution for 1 minute before turning the unit on.2. Watch the reading for 30 seconds. If it still moves, turn off the power and leave the probe for another minute.3. The sensor is probably closer to ±0.1 pH (at best!) than ±0.01 pH as claimed by the manufacturer.4. After use, rinse the probe with distilled water, shake off excess water and return to pH 4.00 buffer for storage. If you have a pH probe storage solution, use that in place of the pH 4.00 buffer. Probe storage solution is the preferred storage solution. But if you have a solution for storing your probes, what do you do with a $10 pH meter? :)