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A water quality report is a page of numbers with no story attached. Here is how we read one, and what we are looking for when we test a house.
Our common five
Our common five
When we test your water at the house, we check five things:
pH
Hardness
Total Dissolved Solids (TDS)
Iron
Chlorine (if applicable)
Our field equipment has a margin of error either way. It is accurate enough to tell us what you have and what to do about it. When a result needs to be exact — a real estate transaction, a rebate application, a contamination question — a state certified laboratory is the right tool, and we will tell you when you need one.
The Six to Look For on a Municipal Report
The Six to Look For on a Municipal Report
If you are on public water, your utility publishes an annual report. Six lines on it tell you most of what you need:
pH
How acidic or alkaline the water is. Low pH is aggressive toward copper and shows up as blue-green staining around fixtures and, over years, pinhole leaks.
Chlorine
The disinfectant that keeps the water safe to distribute. It does its job in the main and then arrives at your house with nothing left to do, where it affects taste and odor and is hard on rubber parts inside your fixtures.
Hardness
Dissolved calcium and magnesium. Not a contaminant. It is what leaves scale in your water heater and film on your glassware.
Total Dissolved Solids (TDS)
Everything dissolved in the water added together. A high TDS number tells you there is a lot in there; it does not tell you what. Read it alongside the other lines, not on its own.
Iron
Stains laundry and fixtures, and gives water a metallic taste. Common on wells, less so on municipal water.
Lead
Almost never comes from the source. It comes from lead service lines and older solder between the main and your tap, which means a utility can report low lead and an individual house can still have it. If your home predates the mid-1980s, this is the one to have tested at your own faucet.
An entire report is worth reading, but these six make it manageable. The EPA is requiring these reports to be easier to read starting in 2027, which should help (Link).
Federal Limits and What We Aim For
Federal Limits and What We Aim For
These two columns are answering different questions. The federal numbers are the compliance limits a public system has to stay inside. Ours are what we have found keeps water heaters, fixtures and appliances in good shape, and keeps water tasting like nothing at all. Water inside the federal limits is doing what it is required to do. Water inside ours is easier on your house.
EPA limits:
pH = 6.5< - >8.5
Chlorine = 1 mg/L - 5 mg/L
Hardness = <17.1 mg/L
TDS < 500 mg/L
Iron =< 300 mg/L
What we aim for:
pH = 7.0-8.0
Chlorine = <1 mg/L
Hardness = <3.5 mg/L
TDS = < 400 mg/L
Iron = < 0.3 mg/L
The Hardness Scale
The Hardness Scale
Hardness in water is commonly measured in grains per gallon (gpg) or in milligrams per liter (mg/L).
0-1 gpg or 0-17.1 mg/L is Soft
1-3.5 gpg or 17.1-60 mg/L is Slightly Hard
3.5-7 gpg or 61-120 mg/L is Moderately Hard
7-10.5 gpg or 121-180 mg/L is Hard
10.5+ gpg or over 180 mg/L is Very Hard
(USA Map: Scale measured in mg/L)
Where you live largely decides where you land on this scale. We cover both of our regions separately:
How to Get Your Numbers
How to Get Your Numbers
On public water — your utility publishes an annual Consumer Confidence Report. It is free and it is online.
On a private well — nobody tests it but you. We test the five above when we are at the house. For anything beyond that, including PFAS, you want a certified lab.
Either way, lead is tested at your faucet, not at the plant.
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