Confused with the Best Drinking Water Source for Your Family? Find the Best Water Quality Test Kit and Make Your Family Safe

The rapid urbanization and population growth exponentially increased the demand for food and water, which in turn enforced the agriculture and food production sectors causing WATER the most expensive resource. In addition, the agricultural sector was facing the fluctuation in growth as it depends upon monsoon the most. To overcome these difficulties and to meet the expected demands, both surface and groundwater resources are being exploited for irrigation which is a total 70% of the world’s accessible water. Ultimately, the decrease in accessible water puts more pressure on the increasing population, which is expected to rise up to 9.8 billion by 2050.

Which one is the best source of Drinking and Domestic water, City Water or Municipal Supply, or Open well or Bore Well?

If we discuss the urban water supply systems in different countries, it’s a serious challenge to supply safe drinking water by the urban supply or municipality authorities. The surface water or groundwater goes through several treatment steps before drinking and domestic use. The primary treatment practice in the water treatment facility is to remove suspended materials like weeds, papers, leaves, etc. through screening. The secondary processes in the treatment plants can be coagulation, flocculation, settling, and filtration. These processes reduce the natural organic matter, turbidity, and microorganisms by the addition of Alum as a coagulating agent. The filtered water followed the disinfection treatment by the chlorination with proper contact time and the residual chlorine rate is maintained throughout the water distribution to consumers. As the primary treatment processes are unable to remove the microorganisms’ byproducts completely, Granular Activated Carbon (GAC) method is used by many treatment plants. The approach not only removes the microorganisms’ residue but also reduces the natural organic matter and other chemicals. The Municipal water treatment plant before supplying the water to the end consumers adopts the best approach such as method indexing approaches and fuzzy decision making with the multi-criteria approach for disinfection utilization and minimization of microorganism residue in drinking and domestic water.

As you know, groundwater is taken for granted over years as the most unspoiled, free from microorganisms, free from color and odor, and the pristine source of water compared to any other source. However, THIS IS NOT TRUE!!

Globally, the countries with a high number of industries and urbanizations are affected the most because of its increased groundwater contamination and pollution due to toxic infiltrations. In recent decades, scientists have developed various methods and techniques to reduce the rate of contamination through remediation, chelation, transformation, etc. of waste materials into useful materials.

The groundwater source is contaminated with naturally occurring emerging contaminants like synthetic chemicals, pesticides, metal residues, surfactants, industrial discharge, pharmaceuticals residue, and chemical solvents.
The green revolution in 1965 witnessed high agricultural productivity with an increased rate of emerging contaminants as it introduces new chemical-based fertilizers and pesticides. Ultimately, the agricultural washed-off added these chemicals to the nearest river basins and groundwater resources.

One of the less commonly reported examples of water poisoning is the accidental drilling of wells into the crust containing arsenic heavy metal in Bangladesh causing millions of people at risk. The most common natural hazard reported due to groundwater contamination is Fluoride dilution in drinking water.  

As you see the sources of water is consisting of several hazardous and toxic chemicals, which need specific and regular treatment. The municipal water collected from the resources goes for treatment before it supplies to you but the direct extraction from the borewell from a depth of 100ft to 500 ft goes for domestic use without any prior treatment. So, should you go for a Water Quality check??

Why do I check the water Quality of my drinking water?

Testing and ensuring the drinking water is a must and is crucial for those who take water from a well as from a source that is not certified by any lab or government. Whether you have dug a new well or inherited or brought one, doesn’t matter, annual testing is a must for plumbing problems and water quality checks.
The test is necessary if you smell, taste, or see any minute particles in water coming from the tap. In addition, the test will be urgent for those who are concurrently falling sick with gastrointestinal issues, which are mostly caused by Bacteria.

Before buying one water quality test kit, you need to check EPA (Environmental Protection Agency) and WHO (World Health Organisation) recommendations which can help you to test the potentially harmful physical, chemical, and microorganisms present in the source.

• An annual test is a must for E. coli count, Nitrate-N, Nitrite-N, pH, and Total Dissolved Solids.
• Test Water quality if you have installed or replaced any part of plumbing like pumps, valves, pipes, or pump casings.  
• A water Quality check is recommended if any one of your family is in the early months of pregnancy or welcoming a baby.  
• If you find or see any exceptional change in taste or smell or odor due to season change especially in the Rainy season, a water quality test is needed to be done.
• If you are near to industry, get your well water checked for Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs) for any kind of mixing or chemical spills in groundwater sources.

What are the reliable Water quality Lab Kits and DIY kits available?

There are several test kits are available in the market, mostly of two types, first, water quality checks at home with easy to understanding manual, and second, the kit with sample collection tubes and send to Lab boxes. The test kits can vary depending on separate parameters or a complete water quality check with an index and color. Some kits are easily available in the market, whereas some Artificial Intelligence technologies are developed and yet to come.

The test kits available in the market are:

Collect Samples and Send to Registered Lab:

1. Safe Home SELECT Water Quality Test Kit
The EPA-certified brand is among the Top-10 new products at the National hardware show in the USA and was supported by water scientists with over 150 years of experience in testing the water quality of drinking water. The test kit is available with a sample collection kit. You have to send the sealed sample to EPA-certified labs as mentioned in the kit to get the results in 10 days from reaching the sample to Labs.  

The test kit is certified for testing around 15 parameters such as heavy metal parameters (Arsenic, Calcium, Chromium, Copper, Iron, lead, magnesium, and Manganese), Physical parameters (hardness, pH, Total Dissolved Solids), in-organics (Chloride, Fluoride, Nitrate-N, and Nitrite-N) and Bacteria (Total Coliform, E Coli).
The kit is pricey but it provides in-depth analysis and comparisons of water quality parameters as well as its acceptable and permissible concentration levels of parameters. So, it is a one-time investment from the drinking water safety point of view.
The same brand is providing versatile drinking water kits as per your requirement and investment.

2. Safe Home Premium Water Quality Test Kit for testing around 50 water quality parameters.

3.  The best one will be the Safe Home Ultimate water Quality Test Kit for testing around 200 water quality parameters.

4. The TAP SCORE Home Testing Kit is certified and supported by EPA laboratories, Ph.D. Berkeley Scientists and Professionally certified Engineers. The collect and send sample testing kit can check over 100 parameters consisting of General properties (like Alkalinity, Total Hardness, Conductivity, Langelier Saturation Index (LSI), Sodium Adsorption Ratio (SAR), Total dissolved Solids, etc.), pathogens (total Coliform as E. coli), Anions (Chloride, Fluoride, Nitrate-N, Nitrite-N, and Sulfate), Metals and minerals (Aluminum, Antimony, Arsenic, Barium, Beryllium, Boron, Cobalt, Copper, Iron, Lead, Lithium, Manganese, Magnesium, Mercury, Nickel, Molybdenum, Phosphorous, Potassium, Selenium, Silica, Silver, Sodium, Strontium, thallium, Tin, Titanium, Uranium, Vanadium, Zinc, etc.) and Volatile Organic Compounds (Chlorobutane, Dichloroethane, Dichloroethylene, Dichloropropen, etc. around 150 VOCs). The comprehensive test reports can be received to your mobile phone within 5 days of the sample reaching a lab.

5. The  Safe Home LEAD test kit with a free Bacteria in Water Test kit for 2 in 1 water quality parameters check. The send sample kit is very effective and test results can be obtained by mail or on your android device from the Lab.

D0-It-Yourself kit:

The DIY kit will give you in-spot results for both indoor and outdoor drinking water resources. The results will be a general understanding of water quality from a layman’s point of view.

1. The Safe Home DIY Bacteria Kit detects 50 different species of Coliform Bacteria in the unit, CFU (Colony Forming Unit) within 24 hours of the test.

3. The Safe Home DIY City Water Test Kit included 16 testing combinations which provide 181 total tests for 13 different water quality parameters. The parameters are Total Chlorine, Free Chlorine, Hardness, Alkalinity, Nitrate-N, Nitrite-N, Fluoride, Carbonate, Iron, Copper, Calcium, pH, and Lead. The kit also mentioned the health effects if these parameters are not within permissible limits.

4. The Safe Home DIY Well Water Test Kit included 14 different parameters with 22 testing mechanisms combined which it can test for 242 total tests. The kit can test for Total Chlorine, free Chlorine, hardness, Alkalinity, Nitrite-N, Nitrate-N, Fluoride, Carbonate, Iron, Copper, Calcium, pH, Lead, and Coliform Bacteria and included the possible effects of unbalanced conditions of drinking water.

5. The Safe Home DIY Lead Test Kit can be used to test Lead in the City or Well water and the results can be obtained within 10 minutes. The level will be indicated in ppm (parts per million) and compared with USEPA permissible limit to know the range of Lead in water.

6. The Well Water Test by Health Metric is a DIY test kit to check groundwater or bore well water quality and plumbing problems. The kit was developed in EPA-certified labs in the USA. The test kit will provide you with the results of water quality parameters (such as pH, manganese, Total Coliform as E. coli, Nitrate-N, Nitrite-N, Hydrogen Sulfide, Total Hardness, and Total Alkalinity) to compare with the easy color-coded card provided to check the levels of each contaminant.

6. The low-cost, accurate, and 9 in 1 instant measurement Health Metric Drinking Water Test Kit can be brought for colorimetric test Lead, Bacteria, Copper, Nitrate, Nitrite Chlorine, Hardness, and alkalinity parameters at home for Tap and bore well water. The kit was approved by EPA Labs.

7. The EPA Lab-certified Water Safe Well-Water Test kit is available for borewell water to give you the sensitive and accurate rapid test results for Pesticides, Copper, Iron, Lead, and Bacteria, Nitrate-N, Nitrite-N, pH, Hardness, and Chlorine. The test kit included a step-by-step manual for every test to get instant results.

8. The Varify Complete Water Test Kit is verified with EPA standards and is available with 100 premium test strips to test 17 water quality parameters (Lead, Iron, Copper, Nitrite, Nitrate, Fluoride, Bacteria, Manganese, Zinc, pH, Sulfate, Mercury, Total Alkalinity, Hardness, Total Chlorine, Hydrogen Sulfide, Sodium Chloride). The items available with the kit also included a sample test tube, a full instruction booklet, a guide to safe drinking water-EBook, color comparison charts, and EPA standard comparison chart. The easy-to-go instruction can give you the water quality check of tap, well or any other source of water indoor and outdoor within 2 minutes and with full accuracy.

9. The Hone Forest Water Quality Tester kit 3 in 1 testing kit is manufactured in China to detect Total dissolved Solids in ppm (parts per million), Electrical Conductivity, and Water temperature with its Automated Temperature Compensator (ATC) equipped with a backlit LCD for readings and is having an auto-lock function to stabilize the readings. The equipment is considered factory calibrated, accurate, reliable, and easy to use with a colorful TDS chart to understand the readings.

10. One of the famous kits for easy manual interpretation of results is the JNW Direct Water Hardness Test Strips for multiple tests. The kit can check using the color test reagent, whether your water softener is working properly or not depending upon the level of calcium or magnesium in the water. The kit consists of 150 strips for 150 tests, which is an extremely easy-to-do DIY kit for tap or well water.