Why Should You Test Your Water?
Clean drinking water is vital for good health. Most public city tap water is disinfected with chlorine and is subject to strict quality regulations. Though municipal tap water may not need to be tested as often as chemically untreated water, you should test if contaminants are suspected.
Know Your Rights
Knowing how to test your drinking water to protect yourself and your loved ones from waterborne illness is important. If your home is served by a public water system, the city must notify you when contaminants could cause illness. Public water is regularly monitored and tested, and results are reported to government agencies responsible for ensuring the water meets national quality standards.
Your city should send out an annual water report once a year, which contains information on the water source, contaminants found, and possible health effects. If you obtain water from a public source before testing, obtain a copy of this report, which can also be found on the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) website. Private water sources must also be tested regularly to ensure purity since they are not subject to the same quality standards as city water.
When to Test
Routine testing for private water supplies should be done yearly for total coliform bacteria, nitrates, total dissolved solids (TDS), and pH levels. For sulfate, chloride, iron, manganese, hardness, and corrosion every three years. Public water supplies should be tested when contaminants are suspected or before purchasing a water filter.
Factors that might warrant water testing:
- If you or anyone in your household experiences frequent gastrointestinal illness, test for coliform bacteria
- If you are expecting a baby, you should test for nitrates. Do so during the early months of pregnancy, before bringing the baby home, and again during the first six months of the baby’s life. It is best to do this during the spring or summer after a rainy period.
- If you have had a recent chemical or fuel spill or a leak near your water supply, test for chemical contaminants such as volatile organic compounds (VOCs).
- If your water is cloudy, frothy, or colored, test for color, turbidity, and detergents. Water with a brown, orange, or red discoloration may indicate the presence of rust in your pipes. Iron deposits from rust may cause hair discoloration or can be toxic to the body at high levels. Sometimes, the presence of iron can indicate a co-existing problem with lead levels, and if there are small children in the house, they may be at risk for lead poisoning. A blue or green tint may indicate corrosion in your pipes, and a dark brown discoloration may indicate the presence of manganese.
- If your water frequently stains clothes or household fixtures, test for iron, manganate, and copper.
- If your water leaves scaly residues and soap scum and decreases the lather of soaps and detergents, test for water hardness.
- Test for hydrogen sulfide if your water has a bad odor or taste, like rotten eggs. A metallic taste may indicate the presence of minerals, and you should test for pH, corrosion, copper, lead, iron, zinc, sodium chloride, and TDS. A chemical or medicinal taste may indicate elevated chlorine levels, which is not uncommon since municipal treatment plants often use chlorine to disinfect water supplies. Most water filters reduce chlorine significantly.
- Test for lead, copper, cadmium, zinc, and pH levels if your household plumbing contains lead.
- If your water supply equipment wears easily, test for corrosion and pH.
Home Kit Water Testing
Water test kits are available to test for one or more contaminants. These usually consist of individual test strips specific to each contaminant. Some kits come with a digital meter to provide more accurate results than one would typically get with test strips alone.
Lab Water Testing
Lab testing can cost anywhere from $15 to hundreds of dollars. A home drinking water test would save you money if you know how to test water independently. However, if you must resort to lab testing, call your state certification officer to get a list of certified water testing laboratories in your state.
The EPA website provides a list of phone numbers for each state’s certification officer, and some of these also have a link to online laboratory listings. Most labs provide their own sample collection containers. Use the ones provided and carefully follow the instructions for collecting, preserving, and handling samples.
Certain tests require that samples be taken under sterile conditions. Therefore, some labs may send a trained technician to collect samples for you to ensure more reliable results.
