How do we measure the acidity of rain?

I actually bought a small digital pH tester online last year for my terrace garden because the plants were turning yellow. I just collect the first shower's water in a clean glass cup and dip the sensor in. It showed around 5.8 for my area, which was quite an eye-opener.

Nature has its own balance, and rain is its purest form, but pollution changes it. To understand its quality, people generally collect rainwater in a clean container and use a simple litmus paper test or a digital pH meter. Keeping our environment pure through mindful living is the best way to keep the rain natural too.

I used to worry so much about acid rain ruining my balcony herbs. I tried checking it with homemade red cabbage juice indicator, which actually turns red or pink if the water is acidic. It is a very simple and safe home method to satisfy your curiosity.

No need to go to big labs for this, simple solutions are available. You can get cheap pH strips from any local scientific store or online for 100-200 rupees. Just catch some rainwater directly in a clean steel bowl and dip the strip to see the color change.

Hey, don't stress too much about measuring it yourself unless it's for a school project! Usually, the local pollution control board publishes these reports online for every major city. But if you are just curious, those tiny pH paper rolls from Amazon do the job nicely and are super fun to use.

We did this exact testing for a college environmental project last month. We collected samples from different parts of the city and used a properly calibrated hand-held pH pen. It is very easy to use, just make sure you don't collect water dripping from tree leaves or rooftops as that ruins the reading.