Most people take their drinking water for granted—if it smells okay and doesn’t have a weird taste, it must be clean, right? A smarter move is to know exactly what’s in your water. This advice applies both to households that are supplied by private wells and households serviced by municipal water systems. While municipal water systems do their best, sometimes they fall short on water quality. In that case, filtering at the household level might be the right move.
When you decide that you need to assess the purity of your household’s water, you have many choices of tests. Every home improvement store has a variety of do-it-yourself water tests available at a wide range of prices. Many more tests are available online. Independent labs typically offer a wide array of products that range from tests that check for a long list of contaminants to ones that zero in on individual substances.
The right choice for you depends on what your concerns are and how important precise test results are. There are advantages and disadvantages to both DIY tests and ones from independent labs and a little education can help you make the right choice.
DIY Water Testing Kits: Useful but Limited
DIY water testing kits have become popular for good reason. They’re relatively cheap, easy to use, and widely available. Typically priced between $15 and $50, these kits instruct homeowners on how to collect a sample and check it for a limited list of contaminants or undesirable water characteristics like these:
- pH level (acidity or alkalinity)
- Hardness (which comes primarily from calcium and magnesium)
- Chlorine (typically added as a disinfectant by the water system)
- Iron (usually naturally occurring)
- Mercury
- Salt
- Fluoride
- Nitrates/nitrites (naturally occurring or resulting from agricultural operations)
- Total dissolved solids (a measure of natural or manmade contaminants that includes calcium, magnesium, potassium, sodium, arsenic, fluoride, herbicides, lead or aluminum)
Most kits utilize strips that are dipped into water. When the chemical patches on the strip change color as they react to various contaminants, you get your results. You are supposed to compare the resulting colors to a chart provided with the kit. In just a few minutes, you have an indicator as to the presence or absence of each contaminant. But be forewarned—some tests that claim to be DIY are actually sample kits that require you to mail the water sample off to a lab, sometimes with an additional payment.
DIY Kits Only Test for a Limited Number of Contaminants
Yes, DIY kits offer a quick look at your water quality. However, the results can be misleading if the user doesn’t follow instructions perfectly. Lighting conditions can alter the color reading and the results on test strips may fade quickly.
The biggest limitation, however, is the very small number of substances detected by these tests. They commonly only check for eight to twenty substances. These tests generally check for lead, coliform bacteria, chlorine, water hardness, iron, pH (acid/alkaline), copper and nitrates. The long list of harmful industrial or agricultural chemicals that could be in your water can’t be tested with this method. It’s a start—a brief look at your water quality, but little more.
The second biggest limitation is the fact that you don’t get a precise assessment of how much of a contaminant is present. Does the contaminant reach a dangerous level? Detailed measurements are not available from a DIY test. Some DIY test results also do not compare your test results with acceptable or federally established limits for each contaminant.
Hazardous Contaminants That DIY Tests Often Miss
- Arsenic
- Why you need to know: Arsenic exposure is linked to various cancers, skin lesions, and cardiovascular disease. While arsenic is a naturally occurring mineral, it may also be added to drinking water by industrial processes.
- Why DIY kits fall short: Arsenic testing requires sensitive instrumentation to get an accurate measurement, which home kits cannot provide. It’s not enough to know whether or not it’s present. It’s important to know how much there is. The harm done by arsenic is dose-dependent, meaning that the more arsenic present, the greater the impact to one’s health. Also, several commercially available arsenic test kits were found to be inaccurate by University of Michigan researchers. This is one area where you don’t want to make a mistake.
- PFAS (“Forever Chemicals”)
- Why you need to know: PFAS is short for Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), chemicals used in hundreds of consumer products. This large group of chemicals was dubbed “forever chemicals” because they can take decades or longer to break down into harmless components. They have been linked to hormone disruption, immune system effects, and several types of cancer. They can accumulate in the human body.
- Why DIY kits fall short: PFAS testing requires advanced lab equipment and detection limits in the parts-per-trillion range—far beyond the capabilities of home kits. The problem with PFAS is that they can harm health at microscopically small levels. The Environmental Protection Agency set a limit of four parts per trillion for two of the most common types of PFAS: PFOS and PFOA. If you want to rule out harm from these toxins, you won’t be able to rely on DIY tests.
- Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs)
- Why you need to know: A VOC is a substance capable of rapid evaporation from the solid or liquid form to a gaseous form. They are used in many consumer products, cars, homes and much more. They release gases in a process called “off-gassing.” VOCs like benzene, toluene, and trichloroethylene are very toxic and cause damage to the liver, kidneys, and central nervous system, and some are known carcinogens. You don’t want them in your water.
- Why DIY kits fall short: Accurate VOC detection requires special preservation of the water sample, specialized containers, and expensive testing systems. VOCs can’t be detected by DIY kits.
- Bacteria (E. coli, coliforms)
- Why you need to know: Both E. coli and coliform bacteria are large groups of bacteria. Some types of coliform bacteria and E. coli bacteria cause disease and some types don’t. However, the presence of coliform bacteria or E. coli indicate that a well or water source may be contaminated with human or animal fecal matter. Knowing if these bacteria are in water is especially important if children, pregnant women, the elderly, or immunocompromised individuals are being served this water.
- Why DIY kits fall short: Some DIY kits give you an indication that coliform or E. coli are present, but they are not as sensitive or reliable as a laboratory’s microbial analysis. A professional lab may even be able to provide a count of the bacteria in a sample, a result that is far beyond the capabilities of a DIY test. This measurement would provide you with an accurate assessment of the urgency for remedial action for your water supply.
- Radon
- Why you need to know: Radon in water is a known carcinogen. The Environmental Protection Agency estimates that radon in water or air causes 20,000 cases of lung cancer per year. If radon is seeping from natural sources into your water, it will be released into the air while showering, washing items or cooking with the water. It can then be inhaled into the lungs.
- Why DIY kits fall short: Actually, there really aren’t DIY radon tests. What you buy in a home improvement store is a kit for taking a sample, which can then be mailed to a lab. An inexpensive sample kit may require you to pay an additional fee for the lab test and report.
- Pesticides and Herbicides
- Why you need to know: Rural and agricultural communities are particularly at risk for water contaminated by runoff from farming. Some of these chemicals are extremely harmful, causing hormone disruption, reproductive harm, kidney and liver damage, birth defects, miscarriage, learning disabilities and cancer. If they are in your water, you need to know how much. The Environmental Protection Agency limits the amount of some of these chemicals to two parts per billion or less.
- Why DIY kits fall short: Most kits don’t detect any of these substances. There are a few kits available that test for individual contaminants such as glyphosate but that is of little help. In a 2020 report, the U.S. Geological Survey reported that they had found 221 different pesticides and herbicides in American rivers and streams over a five-year period of testing. A professional lab test enables you to test your water for many pesticides and herbicides at one time and find out how much is present.
The False Sense of Security from DIY Kits
One of the greatest risks posed by DIY water tests could be a false sense of confidence that the user gets after the test. Because these kits test for only a handful of substances—and only in the most general way—users may assume their water is safe when it’s not. This is especially concerning for parents of infants and young children.
If your limited DIY kit doesn’t reveal any issues, but it only looks for ten or twelve contaminants, you could unknowingly expose your family to long-term health risks from arsenic, industrial chemicals, pesticides or PFAS. A professional water test of either private well water or municipal water provides true peace of mind.
The Importance of Clean Water for Susceptible Individuals
Parents are understandably concerned about any contaminants their children might be exposed to. Young children are especially sensitive to contaminants in drinking water. They drink more water per pound than adults and their developing organs and systems are more easily damaged.
If a household has anyone who is immunocompromised, pregnant or elderly, it is similarly important to monitor water quality. In these cases, investing in accurate tests from a professional lab is a vital investment in health.
The Value of Professional, Independent Lab Testing
For truly accurate, comprehensive testing, there is no substitute for independent laboratory analysis. Whether you rely on a private well or are connected to a public water system, a professional lab can provide accurate measurements of as many as 249 contaminants in a single test.
Professional, independent labs will be equipped with an array of precise testing equipment:
- Electron microscopes to look for bacteria, microplastics and heavy metals
- Gas chromatographs to detect VOCs and pesticides
- Gas spectrometers to analyze contaminants down to their molecules
No matter how good a DIY test kit is, it will never be as accurate as a test in a lab with access to equipment like this and the experienced staff using it. When accuracy matters, a professional, independent lab is the best choice.
Choosing the Right Professional Water Test
The right test for your situation depends on your location and needs. If you are just starting to use a rural well for your household water supply, it’s smart to start with the most comprehensive test you can find. A homeowner in a city water supply who wants to double-check his city’s water quality may be happy with a more basic test.
Depending on your needs, you can find tests that analyze water for all these contaminants and hundreds more:
- Heavy metals (lead, arsenic, mercury, hexavalent chromium and more)
- Nitrates and nitrites
- Fluoride
- Radon and uranium
- PFAS compounds
- Bacteria, fungi and parasites
- Pesticides, fertilizers and herbicides
- Industrial chemicals and VOCs
- Disinfection byproducts like trihalomethanes
Your water test report should come to you with the quantity of each contaminant in your water, along with information on any official limits set by the Environmental Protection Agency. You can compare these two numbers to determine if action needs to be taken immediately to purify or disinfect your water.
Choose ETR Laboratories for Fast, Accurate Water Tests
ETR Laboratories has provided tens of thousands of accurate water test results for homeowners, private well owners, real estate agents, lenders, municipalities, industries that rely on pure water and medical facilities. With ETR Laboratories, you have a choice of basic or extensive tests, or tests that look for individual contaminants. Check out their most popular water tests and place your online order today!
