The Taylor standard drop size is 24 +/- 1 drops per milliliter. So that's 532 drops in a 0.75 ounce bottle size or 1420 drops in a 2 ounce bottle size. The tests use the following amounts of drops on average:
pH: 5 drops of R-0004 per test
FAS-DPD FC (5 ppm FC using 10 ml sample size): 2 level dippers R-0870 and around 10 drops of R-0871 in a 10 ml sample size for 5 ppm
DPD FC: 5 drops of R-0001, 5 drops of R-0002 and 5 drops of R-0003
CC: 5 drops of R-0003 and maybe 1 drop of R-0871
TA (100 ppm TA): 2 drops of R-0007, 5 drops of R-0008 and around 10 drops of R-0009 for a TA near 100 ppm
CH (300 ppm CH): 20 drops of R-0010, 5 drops of R-0011L and around 30 drops of R-0012 for a CH near 300 ppm
CYA (K-2005/2006): 7 ml (0.2357 fluid ounces) of R-0013
CYA (K-1720/TF-100): 15 ml (0.5072 fluid ounces) of R-0013
Costs vary a lot and though the initial kit costs more, the refills are your true marginal cost. If I use the pricing for larger sizes at
Amato Industries I get the following (you can get even larger sizes for lower prices per ounce and note that these prices do not include shipping and are for U.S., not Canada):
R-0001 ..... 2 ounces for $4.44
R-0002 ..... 2 ounces for $4.56
R-0003 ..... 2 ounces for $4.75
R-0004 ..... 2 ounces for $3.40
R-0870 ..... 10 grams for $4.80
R-0871 ..... 2 ounces for $7.36
R-0003 ..... 2 ounces for $4.75 (same as R-0003 above in DPD test)
R-0007 ..... 2 ounces for $2.89
R-0008 ..... 2 ounces for $3.47
R-0009 ..... 2 ounces for $2.83
R-0010 ..... 2 ounces for $4.27
R-0011L ..... 2 ounces for $5.23
R-0012 ..... 2 ounces for $3.48
R-0013 ..... 2 ounces for $2.83
I'll assume you get around 50 tests from 10 grams of R-0870 -- you can often use one heaping scoop effectively instead of two level scoops and you probably get more tests than this so I'm being conservative. Then, with the above pricing the cost per test is:
U.S. Pricing
pH: $3.40 / (1420 / 5) = 1.2 cents per test
FAS-DPD FC (5 ppm FC using 10 ml sample size): $4.80 / 50 + $7.36 / (1420 / 10) =
14.8 cents per test
DPD FC: $4.44 / (1420 / 5) + $4.56 / (1420 / 5) = 3.2 cents per test
CC: $4.75 / (1420 / 5) = 1.7 cents per test
TA (100 ppm TA): $2.89 / (1420 / 2) + $3.47 / (1420 / 5) + $2.83 / (1420 / 10) = 3.6 cents per test
CH (300 ppm CH): $4.27 / (1420 / 20) + $5.23 / (1420 / 5) + $3.48 / (1420 / 30) = 15.2 cents per test
CYA (K-2005/2006): $2.83 / (2 / 0.2367) = 33.5 cents per test
CYA (K-1720/TF-100): $2.83 / (2 / 0.5072) = 71.8 cents per test
If you are in Canada, then your prices are somewhat more than 3 times higher than the above (I give details below near the end of this post). As Dave notes in the post below, you cannot get Taylor products or reagents shipped from the U.S. and have to go through the sole distributor in Canada which is more expensive at least partly due to the costs associated with the paperwork for and transport of hazardous materials. You can see that it is most economical to get the FC and CYA tests in much larger quantities because the FC is done so frequently and the CYA test uses a lot of reagent. Getting the "E" size (16 fluid ounces) of the FC titrating reagent and the 0.25 pound (113.4 grams) DPD powder and the pint size of CYA solution gives the following
FAS-DPD FC (5 ppm FC using 10 ml sample size): $25.72 / ((113.4/10) * 50) + $19.41 / (8*1420 / 10) =
6.2 cents per test
CYA (K-2005/2006): $6.86 / (16 / 0.2367) = 10.1 cents per test
CYA (K-1720/TF-100): $6.86 / (16 / 0.5072) = 21.7 cents per test
Another source for discounted reagent refills is
TFTestkits. Note that the CYA test used in the
TF-100 (and related test kits) as well as in the
Taylor K-1720 that can test down to 20 ppm uses 15 ml instead of 7 ml for the CYA test so is a little more than double the cost per test compared to the K-2005 or K-2006.
For Canada, you can purchase test kits and reagents at
Apollo Pools. The price for the K-2005 kit is $127 and for the K-2006 it is $159 (these are "A" size kits). For reagent refills, their pricing is the following (60 ml or 2 ounces are "C" size):
R-0001 ..... 60 ml for $13.92
R-0002 ..... 60 ml for $14.27
R-0003 ..... 60 ml for $14.73
R-0004 ..... 60 ml for $10.50
R-0870 ..... 10 grams for $17.92
R-0871 ..... 60 ml for $25.47
R-0003 ..... 60 ml for $14.73 (same as R-0003 above in DPD test)
R-0007 ..... 60 ml for $9.56
R-0008 ..... 60 ml for $9.56
R-0009 ..... 60 ml for $9.79
R-0010 ..... 60 ml for $11.56
R-0011L ..... 60 ml for $16.56
R-0012 ..... 60 ml for $10.59
R-0013 ..... 60 ml for $8.90
Canada Pricing
pH: $10.50 / (1420 / 5) = 3.7 cents per test
FAS-DPD FC (5 ppm FC using 10 ml sample size): $17.92 / 50 + $25.47 / (1420 / 10) =
53.8 cents per test
DPD FC: $13.92 / (1420 / 5) + $14.27 / (1420 / 5) = 9.9 cents per test
CC: $14.73 / (1420 / 5) = 5.2 cents per test
TA (100 ppm TA): $9.56 / (1420 / 2) + $9.56 / (1420 / 5) + $9.79 / (1420 / 10) = 11.6 cents per test
CH (300 ppm CH): $11.56 / (1420 / 20) + $16.56 / (1420 / 5) + $10.59 / (1420 / 30) = 44.5 cents per test
CYA (K-2005/2006): $8.90 / (2 / 0.2367) = $1.05 per test
CYA (K-1720/TF-100): $8.90 / (2 / 0.5072) = $2.26 cents per test
For the larger sizes for some tests (note that CYA is "F" size with 32 fluid ounces):
FAS-DPD FC: $79.99 / ((113.4/10) * 50) + $59.99 / (8*1420 / 10) =
19.4 cents per test
CYA (K-2005/2006): $35.24 / (32 / 0.2367) = 26.1 cents per test
CYA (K-1720/TF-100): $35.24 / (32 / 0.5072) = 55.9 cents per test