The Best Water Kits to Reveal the Truth About Your Tap Water (2024)

Our Top Picks

The Tap Score Advanced Water Test Kit is suitable for all types of drinking water, whether your home is served by a municipal water utility or a private well. It has the ability to detect over 100 contaminants, making it particularly useful for wells located near farming or industrial activity–areas that are more prone to bacteria and pesticides.

This kit comes with three vials, allowing you to easily take a water sample from your faucet. It also comes with a prepaid shipping label to submit the samples to a network of EPA-certified laboratories. According to the manufacturer, you should receive results in about 5 business days–though it can take longer.

Tap Score tests for 114 water-quality parameters and provides results in a highly detailed lab report. The results are quantified, revealing the exact amount of the contaminants that might be present in your drinking water. Depending on the results, you may also receive unbiased filtration recommendations, health guidance, and taste evaluation.

One of the only drawbacks to this otherwise outstanding water testing kit is the steep price. It’s significantly more expensive than at-home test strips, and you won’t get immediate results. However, the lab-grade results are more accurate than DIY test kits, providing a comprehensive assessment of your water quality and its impact on your health.

_{Approved Use: Drinking, cooking, bathing, laundry | Tests For: Over 100 contaminants | Time Until Results: 5 business days | Number of tests: 1}

This comprehensive at-home water testing kit is one of the most affordable options in our roundup. It includes 100 test strips—plus two bacteria tests—and screens for 17 common contaminants, including chlorine, bacteria, hydrogen sulfide, and nitrates. That way, homeowners can perform frequent testing and detect any changes or patterns in their water quality over time. This kit also provides readouts on your water hardness, total alkalinity, and pH.

The 16-in-1 water test will give you almost instant results in less than two minutes. However, the separate bacteria test will need to sit out for 48 hours to produce accurate results. Though it will indicate whether bacteria are present, it can’t quantify the exact amount of bacteria in the water. If bacteria are detected, it’s recommended that you send a sample to a lab for further testing.

The color-coded results can be hard to read, which is a common complaint with home water testing kits. Apart from that drawback, the Varify Complete Water Test Kit provides a comprehensive, detailed analysis of your drinking water. It serves as a great foundation for assessing the safety of your water from the comfort of your own home. Of course, further action must be taken if any contaminants are detected.

_{Approved Use: Drinking water | Tests For: Heavy metals, bacteria, alkalinity, water hardness, pH | Time Until Results: 2 minutes for contaminants, 48 hours for bacteria | Number of tests: 100 strips, 2 bacteria tests}

Since well water is not regulated under the EPA, it needs to be tested regularly to ensure its safety. This DIY tests for eight parameters that can affect your water quality: multiple bacteria types, nitrites, nitrates, manganese, and hydrogen sulfide.

It also provides readouts on total alkalinity, water hardness, and pH. Note that this kit doesn’t test for lead, another contaminant often found in well water.

This kit includes test strips that you can compare to a color-coded chart, allowing you to easily test for contaminants. Most of the strips produce results in less than five minutes; however, the bacteria test takes 48 hours to deliver accurate results. Occasionally, the colors on the test strips vary slightly from the colors on the chart, making the results difficult to interpret.

_{Approved Use: Well Water for Drinking | Tests For: Bacteria, nitrites, and more | Time Until Results: 5 minutes for contaminants, 48 hours for bacteria | Number of tests: 2 Nitrate/Nitrite, 2 Manganese, 2 Hydrogen Sulfide, 2 Total Alkalinity/Total Hardness/pH, 1 Bacteria/Coliform Test}

This pool test kit delivers accurate results, so you can be sure your pool is safe to swim in. It tests for vital parameters including free and total chlorine, pH, acid and base demand, hardness, and total alkalinity. Thanks to simple instructions, you can easily mix the reagent drops with your water sample and receive results in seconds.

The color-coded drop reagents tend to be easier to interpret than paper strips, which is definitely a plus. This water testing kit also includes a circular water treatment chart, helping you adjust the chemical levels if needed.

Note that this pool kit has more components than more basic options, and it comes with an informative, albeit lengthy, booklet on pool chemistry. Though it’s an excellent choice for performing an in-depth analysis of your pool water quality, it may be a little overwhelming for a novice.

_{Approved Use: Pools | Tests For: Free chlorine, total chlorine, pH, acid and base demand, hardness, total alkalinity, and stabilizers | Time Until Results: Within seconds | Number of tests: Not listed}

With this convenient water testing kit, you can test the hardness of any water source, including faucets, wells, pools, and dishwashers. JNW Direct Water Total Hardness Strips are easy to use and deliver results in minutes. All you have to do is dip your strips in the water sample and then compare your results to the handy color-coded chart. While most users are pleased with their performance and accuracy, it can be difficult to distinguish between the colors.

This testing kit is extremely affordable, and it includes 150 strips, allowing you to perform multiple tests. The included ebook provides additional information about your water hardness. You can also use it to record, track, and monitor the results of your water tests–giving you a better perspective on your water’s health over time. Keep in mind that the results are not as accurate as those sent out to a professional lab, but this kit is a good starting point if you’re concerned about hard water.

_{Approved Use: Drinking, Cooking, Bathing, Laundry, Pools | Tests For: Hardness | Time Until Results: Not listed | Number of tests: 150 tests}

With this at-home testing kit, you can easily rule out the possibility of heavy metals in your drinking water. It tests for lead, mercury, copper, and iron—four common heavy metals in your drinking water—and delivers results in less than 15 minutes.

What’s more, this kit is precise enough to detect low levels of heavy metals, which can be dangerous in small amounts. While there are color-coded test strips for mercury, copper, and iron, please note that the lead test offers simple pass/fail results. However, the test will indicate if the lead level is above or below the 15 ppb level established by the EPA.

There are two tests for mercury, iron, and copper, but there is only one lead test. Users would have appreciated an additional lead to double-check their results, especially those that received inconclusive results. Like any at-home testing kit, there is a higher probability of human error, but the manufacturer offers expert support to help with any questions or safety concerns you may have.

_{Approved Use: Drinking water | Tests For: Lead, Copper, Mercury, and Iron | Time Until Results: 15 Minutes | Number of tests: 2 Copper, 2 Mercury, 2 Iron, 1 Lead}

If you’re looking for more precise results, this digital water tester from HoneForest is a great choice. It has a large backlit LCD screen that is easy to read and provides results within seconds. While this device doesn’t test for specific contaminants, it does measure dissolved solids, electrical conductivity, and temperature. The chart on the back explains the ppm readings and helps you determine whether your water is safe to drink.

The HoneForest Water Quality Tester is battery-operated and can be reused as often as needed. However, the battery is not replaceable, rendering the device disposable over time. On a positive note, the ppm meter will shut off automatically after two minutes to conserve the battery. This digital water tester comes with a protective carrying case and has a belt clip for easy access and portability.

_{Approved Use: Drinking water, Aquariums | Tests For: Dissolved solids, electrical conductivity, and temperature | Time Until Results: Within seconds | Number of tests: N/A}

The Safe Home Ultimate test kit is the most comprehensive option on this list, allowing you to screen for over 200 contaminants. Your water sample will be sent to a lab certified by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), which will test for all sorts of potential contaminants, including arsenic, lead, coliform bacteria, chlorine, metals, and pesticides. Keep in mind that this kit is an expensive endeavor, but it delivers extremely thorough and reliable results.

Both the lab and shipping fees are included with your purchase, and you should receive digital results within a few weeks. You will also get a hard copy of your results in the mail. The reports provide detailed information about your results, explaining any specific contaminants found in your water sample.

The lab will also provide suggestions for filters and other solutions to improve the safety of your drinking water. The technical language may be difficult to understand if you’re not familiar with water chemistry, but customer support is very helpful.

_{Approved Use: Drinking water | Tests For: 200 Contaminants (6 inorganic substances, 12 physical properties, 32 metals, 20 semi-volatile organic compounds, and 130 volatile organic compounds) | Time Until Results: Approximately 2 weeks | Number of tests: 1}

Final Verdict

For highly accurate and comprehensive results, we recommend the Tap Score Advanced Home Water Test Kit. Water samples are submitted to an EPA-certified laboratory that screens for 114 parameters, providing a much more detailed analysis than at-home test kits. If you have a well, the Health Metric Well Water Test Kit is a great choice. This kit screens for the most contaminants found in well water and delivers results in less than five minutes.

FAQ

• Are home water test kits accurate?

  The accuracy of water testing kits varies by the manufacturer and how easy the results are to interpret by you. If you want the most detailed interpretation or have concerns about harmful heavy metals in your water, sending it to a professional lab is recommended. At-home water test kits are designed for specific water types, so the first step in achieving the most accurate result is choosing the right kit for your needs. Bates notes, “Home paper strip tests may overestimate the number of contaminants present, so for the most accurate results, always choose a professional lab.”

• How often should I test my water?

  “All Public Water Systems (PWSs) that serve customers year-round are required to sample drinking water for regulated contaminants and provide an annual water quality report to customers, called a Consumer Confidence Report (CCR),” says John Erickson of Community Water Center. “If you are supplied by a PWS, this CCR will be your best source of information about most contaminants.” However, if you suspect hard or soft water or have any other safety concerns, you can perform a test at any time. You should also test more frequently if there has been a natural disaster or chemical disruption in their area, as Kyle Postmus of NSF points out. “If you use a domestic well for drinking water, it is recommended that you test your well water quality annually,” Erickson adds.

• How do I know what type of contaminants I should test for?

  Depending on what your water source is, you will be on the look out for different contaminants. For those with well water, it is recommended that you check for total coliforms, pH, volatile organic compounds (VOCs), and nitrate once a year. For those on city water, Bates says, “Resources like www.ewg.org feature tap water databases searchable by zip code. These show the current amounts of contaminants like arsenic or lead present in water in your area. The website also tells you how to get rid of contaminants and whether reverse osmosis systems may be for you.”