The goal of this article is to help educate and inform citizens on issues related to drinking water testing,  identifying drinking water contaminants, getting on the path to create healthy drinking water for a private water system (well water / spring water) or a public water system (Water Authority or local government system).  The drinking water standards are divided into two categories, i.e., Primary Standards and Secondary Drinking Water Standards and these standards are regulated by the EPA and/or state agency for public water supplies, but for many states the regulations do not apply to private or individual water systems like well water, spring water, cisterns, or surface water intakes that are not classified as a public water supply.

If you have drinking water testing results and you are not sure of the meaning of the testing report and results, we recommend ordering a copy of our Drinking Water Guide for Well Water and City Water, use our Contaminant Search Tool, and review our table of drinking water standards and guidelines (Primary Standards) and (Secondary Standards), or if you have a specific problem review our most common problems section with drinking water.

If you are looking for recommended drinking water treatment solutions, we would suggest you review drinking water treatment by topic or try our new Expert Diagnostic Application.   If you need more personal and professional assistance, contact us.

Introducing KYH2O's Expert Diagnostic Application

The Know Your H2O Drinking Water Expert Diagnostic Tool is your resource to help determine the BEST options for water testing based on Expert input rankings for each test available for your location. The tool will walk you through some simple questions and then provide recommendations. The tool is a points-based system. For every answer you provide - the tool is able to more accurately respond with BEST recommendations. 

When you arrive to the home screen of the tool you will see this message:

Next, the tool will ask you to provide as much information about the concerns you have regarding your drinking water as possible. Check as many boxes as you have concerns and then click the blue 'Next' button at the bottom of the screen:

In this example we selected that our water has both an odor and a funny taste.

The tool will then ask you to explain a little bit more about the concerns indicated:

In this example we indicated that "There is a musty smell in my faucet areas." and that the water has a "funny taste".

Next, the tool will ask you to provide an email address to send you the recommendations. Enter your best email address and click the blue 'Next' button. You may also optionally provide a phone number that we can use to reach you should we need to help or answer questions. Neither your email address nor any contact information are ever shared outside of Know Your H2O. We exist to help you find a Path To Clean Water and respect your privacy in doing so.

After answering the last question, the tool will provide you with a website output of your personal water testing and treatment recommendations grouped into 3-sections:

Test Kit Section - This section will list up to 3 of the BEST test kits we would recommend for your specific situation.

In this example - two kits fit the concern scenario best, so they were both recommended. The 'Add to Cart' button allows these to be immediately added to the KYH2O online shopping cart. By using the 'View Product' Link - more information about each test is provided in order to make a decision. Even though the scenario is a 'City' water scenario - the recommendations also will search for appropriate tests from the 'Well' water collection of tests if they apply. A choice is provided in order of highest recommendation to lowest from left to right. In this case the 'Standard City Water Test with Total Coliform/EC' is sufficient; however, there may be a desire to upgrade this test to the 'Ultra Well Water Test with Total Coliform/EC' by the user perhaps due to a desire to be extremely thorough with initial testing. 

Add-On Tests Section - In our experience, some scenarios may result in running one Test Kit and the results may require additional testing. The Add-On Tests included in this section apply to the scenario in most cases, and MAY be included in the first Test Kit Section already. You may find you will want to upgrade the Add-on or add another add-on that is not already in the Test Kit recommended section.

In this example: Coliform/EC is recommended as an add on, but it is already included in the main Test Kit section. This scenario may have a situation of another bacteria other than Coliform/EC that could also be causing the concern, therefore Heterotrophic Bacteria, Iron Bacteria, and Total Organic Carbon testing add-ons are also recommended options. They can be added to the cart via the 'Add To Cart' button or researched further with the 'View Product' Link.

Special Tests Section - This section of the recommendations MAY provide recommendations for other special tests for the concern information indicated. You may find this section is empty based on the answers provided through the tool.

In this example PFOS / PFOA known as "Forever Chemicals" may also be a concern and they are provided as potential 'Special Tests' to consider as well.

All of the test recommendations via the Expert Diagnostic Tool are also provided to you via an email from knowyourh2o.com with some additional information - add this domain to your safe-senders list to ensure you do not miss it!

This email provides links to all of the product recommendations in the Know Your H2O online store. Once you have decided the product(s) that best fit your testing needs, budget, or timeline there is always an opportunity at the end of the online store checkout to add an Expert Consultation. This consultation allows you to make sure that the information provided back from your testing is interpreted properly and if warranted, treatment recommendations can be provided at that time.

Thank you for using Know Your H2O as your authority source for Healthy Water and a Healthy Home!

Contact Us at KnowYourH2O.