Water Tests for Households Using Public Water Supplies

About 75% of Pennsylvania residents get their drinking water from a public or community drinking water supply. These public water supplies provide treated drinking water to homeowners in urban and suburban areas while homeowners living in more rural settings typically get their drinking water from individual, household wells, springs, or rainwater cisterns.

Public water supplies are regulated by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection. These regulations require routine testing of the drinking water for dozens of contaminants by a state-accredited water testing lab. The specific contaminants and frequency of water testing is determined by the size of the drinking water system (households served), the source of the water, and the type of water contaminant.  More information on which contaminants are tested in public water supplies can be found on the EPA website. Testing and other management of private water supplies in Pennsylvania is the voluntary responsibility of the homeowner since these wells, springs, and cisterns are unregulated in the state.

Public water supplies are required to inform their customers about the results from routine testing for bacteria, lead, nitrate, and other contaminants by issuing a Consumer Confidence Report (CCR) every year. CCR's are provided to each customer of the public water supply either by mail or online. CCR's for most large public water supplies are available on the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency CCR website.  You can also check the website for your public water supplier or call them to receive a copy of your CCR.

Despite the detailed testing and regulation of public water supplies and the information available in the annual CCR's, homeowners using public water are still occasionally interested in having their drinking water tested. Some of the water test parameters that are most frequently tested by homeowners using a public water supply include:

Hardness – hard water is caused by calcium, magnesium, and other minerals in water. Symptoms of hard water include a grayish white sediment (called "scale") which forms anywhere water is heated. Hard water also reduces the effect of soap requiring more use of soap for laundry and showers. Water is considered "soft" if it contains less than 60 mg/L of total hardness while more than 180 mg/L is categorized as "very hard". Homeowners often begin to complain of hardness scale and other symptoms when water exceeds about 120 mg/L of hardness. There are no federal or state standards for hardness in water so public water supplies sometimes do contain high levels of hardness, especially if they originate from water wells drilled into certain types of rocks. Water softeners can be used to reduce water hardness and the associated symptoms, but water testing is valuable to confirm both the presence and level of hardness before water treatment is installed. A hardness test typically costs about $20 at an accredited water testing lab. Penn State Extension has more information hard water and its treatment in an online article entitled Water Softening.

Lead and copper – among the many contaminants monitored by public water supplies, lead and copper are unique because they nearly always originate from corrosion of metal plumbing within each home or in nearby water mains and distribution lines. They are also important tests because both copper and lead can cause serious health effects if they occur above drinking water standards. While public water suppliers are required to test lead and copper in a percentage of their customers' homes, this testing is focused on higher-risk homes where lead is more commonly found. Since many homes may never be tested for lead and corrosion of lead and copper can be very specific to each home, many homeowners using public water supplies seek to have their water tested for copper and lead. If you are interested in lead and copper testing, contact your public water supplier; some have funding available to provide free testing for lead. Otherwise, accredited labs can test lead and copper for about $15 to $30 for each ($30 to $60 for both). Penn State Extension has information on testing and treatment of copper and lead problems in online articles entitled Corrosive Water Problems and Lead in Drinking Water.

Chlorine – all public water suppliers are required to add some form of chlorine to their drinking water to kill bacteria and other pathogens. Water suppliers strive to maintain a low but noticeable amount of chlorine, referred to as "residual chlorine", at each home in their distribution system. Chlorine levels can fluctuate with the distribution system which sometimes results in higher chlorine levels in homes closer to the water treatment plant and lower concentrations in homes further away. Excessive chlorine concentrations result in an objectionable odor and taste to the water. While many accredited labs can test for chlorine, it is often more accurate to test it quickly at the home before it dissipates. Residual chlorine can easily be tested in the home using simple test strips available at many pet and swimming pool stores. If you feel your chlorine level is too high, you can also contact your water supplier to have them check the residual chlorine at your home. Chlorine can be effectively removed from drinking water using a granular activated carbon (GAC) filter cartridge.

Iron and manganese – these are common metals found in both public and private drinking water supplies. They can originate the rocks where groundwater wells pull water from, from nearby land uses like mining, or from corrosion of metal plumbing lines.  While they do each have a federal and state drinking water standard, they are only recommended standards based on staining and metallic taste in water.  As a result, both iron and manganese are occasionally found at high concentrations, even in public water supplies.  Iron can cause orange-brown stains and sediment, while manganese usually causes a black stain and metallic taste. Iron and manganese sediment can be removed with a simple cartridge sediment filter while dissolved forms of these metals that cause staining are most often treated with a water softener.  More information on the testing and treatment of these metals can be found in Iron and Manganese in Private Water Systems.

Homeowners interested in getting their water tested can learn more and request a test kit by visiting the Penn State Agricultural Analytical Services Lab drinking water testing website. Dozens of other state-accredited water testing labs across Pennsylvania and in nearby states can be found by searching the PA Department of Environmental Protection Laboratory Accreditation website.