Water testing that tells you what's actually in your water

Two kinds of testing, and what each is good for

Field screening is what can be checked at your kitchen sink: things like hardness, pH, iron and chlorine, using test strips or handheld instruments. It's quick and useful for scoping the conversation, for example confirming you have chlorine taste from city water or rust-colored iron from a well. It is not a certified result, and we never treat it as one.

A certified-lab panel is a sample you collect with the lab's bottles and instructions and send to a laboratory certified by the state for those specific tests. North Carolina's State Laboratory of Public Health runs the certification program and publishes a searchable list of certified drinking-water labs.^[source] Lab results are what we use to choose equipment, because they measure the things a sink-side screen can't, like arsenic, lead, nitrate and bacteria.

Why we don't use TDS meters or color-change demos

A TDS meter measures total dissolved solids: mostly harmless minerals. It can't tell you whether lead, arsenic, bacteria or PFAS are present. Charlotte Water's 2025 report lists average TDS of 59 ppm,^[source] far below EPA's 500 mg/L secondary (nuisance) guideline.^[source] A low or high TDS number on its own says very little about whether your water needs treatment.

Color-change "precipitation" tests and electrolysis demos are worse. The Water Quality Association has warned that the darkening seen in these demos doesn't indicate contamination.^[source] We won't run them, and it's on our list of things we won't do.

City water: start with your utility's report

If you're on a public system, your utility already tests your water and publishes the results each year in a Consumer Confidence Report (CCR).^[source] We read it with you, explain what's in it, and point out what it can't tell you. The biggest gap is your own plumbing: lead usually comes from pipes, solder and fixtures inside older homes, not from the utility.^[source] If that's a concern, a lab tap test for lead at your faucet is the right next step.

Not sure which utility serves you? Our ZIP-code water lookup finds it, and the Charlotte-area water report summarizes utility reports across the region.

Private wells: a certified-lab panel

Nobody tests a private well for you. In NC, a new well must be tested by the State Laboratory of Public Health (through your local health department) or a state-certified lab before it's used for drinking water.^[source] For existing wells, testing is up to you. Local studies show why it matters: in Union County, about 19% of 5,154 private wells tested between 1998 and 2019 were above EPA's 10 µg/L arsenic standard.^[source] That describes tested wells, not every well, which is exactly why yours needs its own result. See what we know about Union County wells and our well water guide.

A typical well panel we'd recommend covers bacteria (total coliform and E. coli), arsenic, lead, copper, nitrate and nitrite, iron, manganese, pH and hardness, with additions such as radon or uranium where local geology calls for it. Health departments can also arrange testing through the NC State Laboratory of Public Health.^[source]

How a lab report reads (illustrative)

What the results let us decide

1. Step 1

   Whether you need anything at all

   A clean result is a good outcome. If your water is fine, we'll tell you, and suggest when to retest.

2. Step 2

   Which system type fits

   Iron and manganese point toward well filtration; low pH toward a neutralizer; bacteria toward UV disinfection; arsenic or lead at the tap toward reverse osmosis; hardness toward a softener only when the number calls for it.

3. Step 3

   Which certification to look for

   We match each problem to an NSF/ANSI standard that covers that specific reduction claim, then size the system to your measured levels.

4. Step 4

   A baseline to check against

   After installation, a retest confirms the system is doing what the first test said it needed to do.

How often to retest

NC DHHS recommends private well owners test for coliform bacteria every year; for heavy metals, nitrate, nitrite, lead and copper every two years; and for pesticides and volatile organic compounds every five years. It also recommends testing after well repairs, after flooding, and any time taste, color or odor changes.^[source] Our Care Plans include an annual certified-lab retest so this doesn't slip.

Installation after testing

If your results call for equipment, we supply and size it, and installation is handled separately by a licensed plumber. Here's how installation works.