Water Testing

The utility report is not your water

Published water quality reports are genuinely useful and they are not the same as testing your tap.

They report averages for a supply zone, measured at the utility’s end of the system. What reaches your property travels through their distribution network and then through your own pipework.

Old galvanised pipe adds iron. A lead service line adds lead. A long run that sits stagnant overnight is different at seven in the morning than at midday.

And on a private well, no report exists at all. Nobody is monitoring your supply unless you arrange it.

Testing at the tap is the only way to know what you are actually drinking and what your pipework is actually carrying.

Five numbers that decide most things

For practical treatment decisions, a small set of parameters explains most of what people notice.

Hardness. Whether softening is worth it and what size unit is needed.

pH. Water that is too acidic attacks copper from the inside, which is a common cause of pinhole leaks. This one is frequently the answer to a plumbing problem rather than a taste problem.

Chlorine. The usual explanation for taste and smell complaints, and cheaply dealt with by carbon.

Iron. Causes the orange staining in sinks and on laundry, and it degrades softener resin, so it needs handling before a softener rather than after.

Total dissolved solids. A general indicator, and the number reverse osmosis is aimed at.

Between them they turn “the water tastes odd” into a specification.