This test analyzes your city tap water for 47 contaminants across 5 categories: 19 heavy and trace metals (lead, arsenic, mercury, cadmium, chromium, copper, uranium, and more), 10 minerals and metals (iron, manganese, calcium, magnesium, sodium, etc.), 6 water properties (pH, hardness, alkalinity, TDS, turbidity, conductivity), 8 inorganics (nitrate, fluoride, sulfate, chloride, and more), and 4 calculated values (grains per gallon, Langelier Saturation Index, hardness as CaCO3, chloride-to-sulfate ratio). All testing is performed at a NELAC/ELAP certified laboratory using EPA-standard methods. Bacteria testing is not included because city water is disinfected by your municipality before it reaches your home.

City water is treated and disinfected by your local utility before it ever reaches your tap. Federal regulations require continuous monitoring for E. coli and coliform at the treatment plant and throughout the distribution system, and any bacterial contamination triggers a boil-water notice in your area. Adding a bacteria test to a city water kit would just inflate the price for a result that is essentially guaranteed to come back negative. If you're on a private well that does not have any disinfection, use the Well Water Test Kit instead, which adds the E. coli and Total Coliform panel.

About 5 business days from when the independent lab receives your sample. The kit ships to you with free standard shipping (2 to 5 business days depending on location). You collect your sample (5 minutes), ship it back with the prepaid 2-day label, and the lab returns results within 5 business days. After that, Aidan reviews your results and contacts you with a personal recommendation, usually the same day or the next morning. Total time from order to actionable plan: typically 2 weeks.

DIY test strips from hardware stores test for 6 to 14 parameters using color-changing strips that you try to match against a chart. They cannot detect contaminants at the low levels that matter for health. Lead, for example, has an EPA action level of 15 parts per billion, which no strip test can measure. This kit sends your water to an independent, third-party certified lab that uses the same instruments and methods as your county health department: ICP-MS for metals, ion chromatography for anions. The difference between a strip test and a certified lab test is the difference between a guess and an answer.

TapScore is a great company, and both of us use the same independent, third-party certified lab network. The testing quality is identical. The difference is what happens after. TapScore gives you a lab report with general treatment recommendations. We give you that same impartial lab report plus a personal consultation with a water treatment specialist who has been solving city and well water problems for over 30 years. Aidan will tell you the exact equipment model, size, and installation order for your specific situation. And if you need equipment, we sell and support it directly. One company from test to treatment to ongoing support.

Aidan personally reviews every set of independent lab results. He looks at your specific numbers (lead, copper, hardness, fluoride, sodium, pH, metals) and creates a recommendation tailored to your household. He will tell you which contaminants need treatment and which don't, the exact equipment you need and what size, the correct installation order, and what maintenance to expect. He will contact you directly by email, text, or phone, whatever you prefer. If your water tests clean, he will tell you that too.

Then you know your city water is safe at your tap and you don't need any treatment equipment. That peace of mind is worth the test by itself. We will never recommend equipment you don't need. Plenty of municipal supplies deliver clean water to the home, and many homes have plumbing that doesn't add lead or copper on the way to the tap. If yours is one of them, you will know for certain.

Yes, every public water system has to publish an annual Consumer Confidence Report. That report tells you what the water looked like leaving the treatment plant. It does not tell you what is happening in your home. Lead and copper levels can climb significantly between the plant and your tap because of older service lines, brass fittings, and copper piping. Disinfection chemistry can also drift in the distribution system. The only way to know what is actually coming out of your kitchen faucet is to test it at your kitchen faucet.

Absolutely. Call or text Aidan at 800-460-5810. He is available 7 days a week. If you are not sure whether you need this test, he can help you figure that out in a few minutes. No sales pitch, just straight answers. You can also email support@midatlanticwater.net.