I just had to test the run-off of my soil to try and figure out if I had a PH problem or not and found that testing the run-off alone was quite difficult if you were using a liquid type test kit (the ones where you put the water in a tube and add 5 drops of some additive). The difficulty came in to play when the run-off water was brown making it very hard to tell what color the water was after adding the drops.
My solution to this was to use a paper towel to strain out any dirt or particles that were contributing to the brown color. Just to ensure that using the paper towel wouldnt raise or lower my reading I tested some bottled water without straining and then with straining and the readings were exactly the same.
You may have to strain it a few times back and forth, possibly even folding the paper towel in half or fourths to get good filtration, but in the end it really helped. Obviously the real fix is to get a good soil tester, but in the case you dont have the funds for one or access to one, this helped me so I figured I would pass it along.
My solution to this was to use a paper towel to strain out any dirt or particles that were contributing to the brown color. Just to ensure that using the paper towel wouldnt raise or lower my reading I tested some bottled water without straining and then with straining and the readings were exactly the same.
You may have to strain it a few times back and forth, possibly even folding the paper towel in half or fourths to get good filtration, but in the end it really helped. Obviously the real fix is to get a good soil tester, but in the case you dont have the funds for one or access to one, this helped me so I figured I would pass it along.