How to Take a Water Sample
E.W. Tompkins Takes Water Samples for Testing
We frequently take water samples for customers who want filtration systems and water softerners. It takes less than 2 weeks to obtain results that can help you make an educated decision on equipment that will give you better quality water and help maintain your house pipes.
The lab we use does not test for bacteria. That should be tested by a local health department. For testing for hardness or something else besides bacteria it is best to use a container that is plastic and has not had a liquid beverage in it before. We come with a plastic bottle so it does not break in transit. Another example of a container might be a plastic water bottle that was full of spring water. Poland Springs is one brand. Do not use a container that might have had a beverage like Gatorade in it.
We suggest heading over to a faucet that does not have an aerator on it. The reason for this is because the aerator can “stir” up the water.
If you do not need a “dirty sample”, let the cold water run for 2 minutes and then load the container all the way up to the top not allowing any air at the top.
Sometimes if you have a complaint about odor, it is good to tell the tester if the odor occurs with the cold or the hot water. If you have colored water, it is good to note if it comes out in color and then changes or if it comes out no color and then changes color. You may want to take a “dirty sample” also of the water that comes first out of the faucet without running it. This dirty water will tell the laboratory more about what minerals exist.
We will ask how many people live in the house, how many bathrooms are in the house and if you have specialty rain shower heads or deep jacuzzi style soaking tubs. We like to obtain information on the flow rate of the city or well water into the home. We may decide to measure how long it takes to fill up a 5 gallon pail at your outside faucet.
