December 29, 2024, 4:37 pm | Read time: 4 minutes
Although the quality of our drinking water is regularly tested by the waterworks, it can be useful to carry out analyses yourself. This article reveals when this is the case and what options are available.
Old water pipes in the house, outdated technology for water heating, or environmental influences can affect the quality of drinking water. Although drinking water is one of the most frequently tested foods, the waterworks can only test the water that enters the mains.
When it May Be Worth Measuring Your Drinking Water Quality
In principle, people with a weakened immune system, as well as babies and small children, can react more sensitively to harmful substances. If you want to be sure of the quality of the drinking water in your house and apartment, you should carry out a test. After all, you don’t just drink the water; you also use it to cook or mix bottled food.
Incidentally, the manufacturers of mineral water repeatedly suggest in their advertising that drinking their products is necessary because this is the only way to supply the body with valuable and important minerals. However, this is greatly exaggerated. Water itself is essential for life. But nobody can drink the quantities of minerals that the body needs to stay healthy. People get the majority of the minerals they need from food.
How Can the Quality of Drinking Water Be Tested at Home?
Various test kits are available from drugstores, pharmacies, and online retailers. It is advisable to read the product descriptions carefully, as the offers are divided into two large groups:
- Sample kits from laboratories
- DIY kits with test strips
With sample kits, buyers do not determine the water quality themselves. Instead, in addition to the instructions and a container for the water sample, there is also a voucher for analysis in a professional laboratory. The laboratory then returns the results by post within a promised time frame. To ensure that the analysis is actually meaningful, users must strictly adhere to the instructions for taking the sample.
DIY kits consist of a number of plastic test strips. Various indicator fields are applied to them. These contain chemical agents that react sensitively to the substance being tested for. The test strips can often detect 16 different substances and their concentration. The test strips are easy to use:
- First, pour some water from the tap into a container.
- Take the test strip out of the packaging and move it gently in the water for a while (usually five to ten seconds).
- Then, simply place the strip on a surface.
- The instructions tell you exactly when to expect results.
- If a substance is detected, the corresponding field on the strip changes color.
- The color is then compared with a reference table on the packaging. This allows the concentration of the respective substance to be determined.
Finally, there are also so-called TDS measuring devices. “TDS” stands for “Total Dissolved Solids,” which means nothing other than “substances dissolved in water.” The value is determined using an electric current. Pure water does not conduct electricity. The conductivity always comes from ions that are dissolved in the water. These ions come from chemical elements and compounds that are dissolved in the water. The higher the value, the more substances are present in the water. However, this alone does not mean contamination. For example, “hard water,” which contains a lot of calcium, is not harmful to health. In addition, the devices do not detect all substances. In this respect, the use of a TDS measuring device is not recommended.
What Impurities Can Laboratories Detect?
Compared to simple test strips, the results of a laboratory test are more meaningful because a laboratory can analyze many more substances. And also determine the values more precisely. Common tests determine the concentration and values of:
- Lead: particularly dangerous for infants and young children.
- Chromium: suspected of being carcinogenic.
- Iron: only a limited health hazard, but it colors the water and affects the taste.
- Calcium: promotes the calcification of household appliances.
- Copper: can be harmful to the liver.
- Magnesium: a natural component of groundwater.
- Nickel: can cause allergic reactions.
- Nitrate: gets into the groundwater through fertilizers and can damage blood formation.
- Nitrite: can cause cancer.
- Sulfate: problematic for infants and small children.
- Zinc: Although it is vital, excessive doses can be harmful to health.
Water hardness is also determined. The “harder” the water, the faster household appliances can suffer from “limescale.” The conductivity of the water and the pH value are also reported back.

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Not Every Contamination Is Equally Hazardous to Health
The challenge in taking your own water quality measurements lies in interpreting the results. This is because not every substance detected is necessarily hazardous to health. It depends heavily on the concentration and the constitution of the person consuming the water. If in doubt, it is, therefore, better to seek expert advice. This could be your family doctor’s surgery, for example.