DIY guideWater quality
Test the drinking water
Take a sample from the right tap the right way, in a lab's own bottle, and get it to the lab cold. On a well or your own treatment, nobody else tests it for you.
- 15 to 30 min
- 8 steps
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8 steps
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Get sample bottles and instructions from an accredited lab or your local health unit. Ask what to test for: bacteria and nitrates are the usual start.
Use the kitchen's cold tap, unless the lab asks for water from before your filter or softener.
Unscrew the screen from the tap's end and wipe the spout clean, inside the opening too.
Run the cold water for a few minutes, until it's as cold as it gets.
Open the bottle only to fill it, to its line. Don't touch the inside of the cap or the bottle, and don't rinse it.
Label it, keep it in the fridge or a cooler, and get it to the lab as soon as its instructions say.
Keep the lab's report with your home's papers, and test again every year and after a flood.
Bacteria, nitrates or anything over its limit: drink bottled water and ask Handyman for a water treatment pro.
What you need
- The lab's sample bottles and instructions
- A cooler or room in the fridge
- A clean cloth
Call a pro if
- The report shows bacteria or nitrates
- Anything on the report is over its limit
- The water's taste, smell or colour changes
- A flood has reached the well
Handyman says: Unsafe water? I'll find a water pro.
Free for every home. Handyman asks a few questions, then books a pro it trusts.
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