While I am not familiar with some of these products, some appear to be new on the market and I'm not sure of how accurate they would be; I did find sites that markets DIYS kits, but many parameters could cause you to get false readings (#1 would be even if you didn't wash
your hands thoroughly before
you tested the water). So I'm not endorsing these products but since the question was asked and it is currently being asked at our own association beach, I had the oppurtunity to do some research on it. You have to be careful in purchasing of test kits because if it's not just strips you may get a kit that has a hazardous reagent, so thoroughly check out what type of kit you want and/or really need and know ahead of time that a do it yourself kit is not like having a sample taken to the lab. Parameters such as time of day test was taken, outside temperature, weather, how long the sample sits around all can lead to either a good test or bad test going wrong or right.
http://www.kidswatersafe.com/Home/ta...2/Default.aspx
http://prolakemgmt.com/HTML/WQTesting.htm
http://www.simpltek.com
http://www.lamotte.com/pages/edu/3-0034.html
I also found these informative sites that will answer a lot of the questions asked here.
http://www.ecy.wa.gov/programs/eap/b...eria_used.html
http://healthvermont.gov/enviro/water/recwater.aspx
http://www.epa.gov/owow/monitoring/volunteer/issues.htm
http://www.ecan.govt.nz/Our+Environm...Q/glossary.htm
and don't overlook New Hampshire's informative site on beaches and advisories
http://www.des.state.nh.us/Beaches/current.asp