How to Test Your Tap Water
It’s important to know your local results to decide whether you need to filter your water
How safe is your tap water? Finding out can take some time, effort, and money, but it’s worth doing.
Most people on municipal water who pay their own bill should receive an annual water quality report called a CCR, or Consumer Confidence Report. If you don’t receive yours, call your local water supplier. And if you rent, contact your landlord.
Want cleaner water? Find the best water filters from our tests.
The Best Ways to Test Your Water
If you decide to test your tap water, here's what to do, whether it comes from a public utility or a private well.
First, be wary of the many do-it-yourself test kits sold online or in hardware stores, in which you test a sample of water in your own home without sending it to a lab. It's not always clear what they test for or how accurate they are. Instead, the EPA recommends using a certified lab.
The tests can be pricey—some cost more than $500—depending on which contaminants are included in the test kit. Your health department may offer free or low-cost testing. If you need only a lead test, the nonprofit Healthy Babies Bright Futures offers a low-cost one.
You could also try one of the mail-in kits, described below, that CR has tested. All involve sending a sample of your water to a certified lab, and all performed well in CR's tests, though they differ in cost and what they test for.
Home Testing
The test from National Testing Laboratories can look for PFAS, lead, and other contaminants.
The test from National Testing Laboratories can look for PFAS, lead, and other contaminants.
CR-Tested Mail-In Kits
National Testing Laboratories
Municipal: From $195
Well: From $205
PFAS: From $499
To order, call 800-458-3330.
Note: Cyclopure tests only for PFAS, but it includes more of the compounds in its standard test than the other two, is easier to perform, and costs less.
