Clean and safe drinking water is essential for the health of you and your family. If you have any concerns at all, you must find out what your water contains so you can take the necessary action.
Even if you have no concerns, it’s always best to know what you are drinking. So, follow the steps below to gain peace of mind about the content of your drinking water.
1. Know Where Your Water Comes From
Where you get your water from is crucial in your decision to undertake water testing. If it comes from a public utility, as for around 90% of consumers in America, then the supplier must adhere to minimum legal limits set by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). This covers ninety common contaminants that can be found in water, and the acceptable levels are stated in the National Primary Drinking Water Regulations.
In addition to the national minimum levels, the Safe Drinking Water Act allows states to set their own guidelines for water quality, which are usually stricter than national levels. Municipal suppliers have to provide an annual Consumer Confidence Report that details current water quality, so you can use this to decide if the quality is acceptable to you.
Over 23 million households get their drinking water from a well. If you are one of them, you are responsible for the quality of your water. In this case, you should always test annually for drinking water contamination because the content of your water can be changed by external factors such as storms, agricultural activity, and industrial development.
2. When to Test your Water
If you are a well water owner, use a drinking water test kit at least annually, and if there have been any changes that can affect the quality. For municipal water, you should only need to test if you have noticed any differences or have particular concerns.
If the water changes color, smells bad, or tastes bad, it’s time to test to see what’s happening. Brown or orange water can indicate the presence of iron that can cause diarrhea, nausea, and, ultimately, liver damage. Cloudy water can be caused by minerals that can lead to kidney stones or by sewage that can contain bacteria and viruses. Any unusual features can be due to the presence of something unpleasant that can cause you harm, so it’s always best to test if you have the slightest doubt.
3. Know What You Need to Test for
Many types of water quality test kits will only check for specific types of content, so you ideally need to know what you’re looking for. This may be indicated by the taste, smell, or appearance of the water. A metallic taste may suggest the presence of lead, which can cause liver damage, zinc, which can cause intestinal issues, or copper, which results in multiple health issues. A smell of bleach can be due to excess chlorine that also causes intestinal issues, while a fishy smell can be due to cadmium that causes kidney disease.
There are numerous signs of problems with water content, and these can lead to future problems. If there are any known contamination issues, your water company should let you know, but there is no notification for well water users.
4. Choose the Most Suitable Test Method
Basically, you have two choices:
- A household water testing kit is in the form of test strips that you dip in a water sample, or powder kits where you mix water with a powder reagent. The former is the cheapest method, although the strips may only test for a limited number of contaminants.Both methods deliver results quickly, but you need to know what you are testing for. The reliability and accuracy of some kits are questionable, however, so always choose one that is EPA-certified or meets EPA testing standards, so you have the best home drinking water test kit.
- Laboratory tests, where you send a water sample to a laboratory for testing. This is more expensive and takes longer to process, but it is a more thorough and accurate method. Some laboratories can test for over 200 contaminants, which can make the extra expense worth it.
5. How to Test Drinking Water at Home
Before you start, ensure you don’t contaminate your water sample. Wash your hands thoroughly, avoiding perfumed soap or lotions, and clean the faucet where you will take the sample.
Turn the faucet on and let cold water run for two minutes to clear stagnant water from the pipes. Fill the sample bottle with water, taking care not to touch the rim or the inside. Once filled, fasten the bottle securely.
If you’re sending the sample to a laboratory, attach a label that has your details, the sampling location, and the date and time the sample was taken. Then send it to the laboratory, following the supplied mailing instructions, and await results.
When using a home test kit, closely follow the supplied instructions. This will either mean dipping a test strip into the water for a specified period or mixing the water and powder in set volumes. The kit will normally have a chart, and you can compare this to your results to determine what your water contains.
6. Actions to Take After the Test
Once you have your results, you can decide what you need to do. If the results show no significant contamination, breathe a sigh of relief and carry on as normal. For well water users, that means repeating the test in twelve months.
If the water is contaminated, particularly with bacteria, it’s best to boil it before drinking. Longer term, it may be prudent to acquire a water filtration system that will get rid of the problems found. Various filters will deal with different types of contaminants. Include a water softener if your water is hard.
The health of your family is important, and waterborne contaminants are a real threat. So, if you have any doubts about tap water safety, test and then act on the results.
