We’re building a new house right on the edge of where the local water plant stops delivering water and want to know if we will be better off hooking up to the water line or having well put in. Some people say we’re lucky to have a choice, but really it’s just one more decision we have to make and we already have so many! Can you help? Thanks!

Emma

As Emma implied, sometimes having a choice makes for a lot more work – if you choose to research the options properly.

Hooking up to city water offers the security of knowing that the city has to test its water routinely before distribution and must inform you if it has experienced any ‘incidents’ which may put you in danger. On the flip-side, though, you will receive a bill each month to cover the expense of testing, monitoring, filtering and purifying the water going into your new home.

Investing in a well for your new home will rid you of that pesky water bill each month, but it will also make you 100% responsible for the quality and safety of water it produces once it passes an initial test done by the well drilling company.

We honestly do not have an answer, Emma, because some well water comes up cleaner and more pure than any water company could ever distribute… and other well water comes up nastier than backwoods swamp water and/or containing potentially dangerous chemical compounds whose origin even the best scientists in the World have trouble locating.

Pretty much all city water contains some form of disinfectant which can create unpleasant tastes and odors in drinking water. It can also irritate skin, bleach clothing, etc. and some water systems contain obnoxious (and smelly) levels of chlorine which can make water taste absolutely wretched.

While on the topic of chlorine, the most widely used disinfectant for public water systems, produces trihalomethanes (THM’s), a potentially carcinogenic disinfection byproduct, when chlorine molecules attack organic contaminants in water.

Getting back to the well water, commonly occurring events in the environment can change the quality of well water on a daily basis. Heavy rains, a lack of rain, temperature and even air pressure can radically alter the nature of water pulled from well – and let us not forget about pollution from industry which can seep into the ground 100’s of miles away from a well and still, somehow, make its way into that water that well produces at some point.

So, Emma, in the end, and if you want to make the best possible decision regarding where you will get your drinking water, we suggest you have a sample of water drawn from the aquifer your proposed well will access and have it tested by a certified water testing laboratory such as National Testing Laboratories. Contact the well drilling company you think you may use to drill, if you go that route, and ask them for advice on getting sampling and testing done. Do make sure they submit the sample to a certified water lab, though, and not do the testing themselves!

Then contact the local water company and ask for a copy of their latest water quality report, usually referred to as a Consumer Confidence Report and abbreviated as CCR.

With both reports in hand, weigh the pros and cons of each and remember that no matter which option you choose, you may STILL want to consider having a Whole House Water Filter System installed and/or purchasing point-of-use water filter devices for the shower, faucet and countertop.

End users (consumers) of water supplied by the city may want to periodically check the quality of the water they get from their water company.

Testing the water water quality at your home, office, school or other place of interest does NOT have to cost a fortune, though, as some water service professionals would have you believe.  While nothing takes the place of certified laboratory testing, simple, do-it-yourself home water quality test kits offer fast results at a fraction of the cost and can alert consumers to the fact that they may want to consider having their water examined by a certified laboratory.

Examples of Home Water Test Kits

4 in 1 City Water Check

4 in 1 City Water Check The 4-in-1 City Water Check home water test kit gives fast, accurate water test results for four major parameters often looked at in city (or municipally) treated drinking water: pH, Total Alkalinity, Total Chlorine, and Total Hardness. The test takes less than 30 seconds to perform and requires no technical training. more information

COMPLETE Water Test Kit

COMPLETE Water Test Kit The COMPLETE Water Test Kit offers homeowners the ability to quickly and accurately test for Bacteria, Nitrates, Nitrites, Hydrogen Sulfide, Total Hardness, Total Alkalinity, Total Chlorine, Free Chlorine, Chloride, Copper, Sulfate, Iron, and pH. COMPLETE Water Test Kit gives its users rapid, comprehensive water test results at an affordable cost — MSRP of around $25 USD. more information

Water Quality Test Kit

Water Quality Test Kit With a name as simple and easy to understand as Water Quality Test Kit, you know getting accurate water test results won’t take long. This comprehensive, yet affordable, home water test kit contains the following tests: (2) tests for Iron, (2) tests for Copper, (2) tests for Chloride, (2) tests for Nitrate/Nitrite as Nitrogen, (2) tests for Total Chlorine, (2) tests for Total Hardness, (2) tests for Free Chlorine, (2) tests for Sulfate, (2) tests for pH, (2) tests for Total Alkalinity, (2) tests for Hydrogen Sulfide, (1) Pesticide in Water test, (1) Lead in Water test, and (1) 48 Hour Presence/Absence test for Coliform Bacteria. If you’re looking for a do-it-all, do-it-yourself home water test that won’t break the bank, you should definitely take a long look at the perfectly named Water Quality Test Kit — MSRP of around $37 USD. more information

Looking for more water test kits?

If so, then definitely check out the more than 50 water quality tests kits currently available in our Water Test Kit Store. We have simple, easy-to-use water test kits for basic water quality parameters like total chlorine, coliform bacteria, copper, total iron, and, obviously, many more!