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Safe drinking piss is one of the cornerstones of a sizeable home that should not be taken for granted . Municipal water utilities serve most homes in America with dependably safe water . In abidance with caliber banner prepare by the Environmental Protection Agency ( EPA ) , they do frequent water trial to ensure that water is safe to booze when it leaves the filtration plant .
However , ageing or leaky fixtures within city water distribution systems and household bathymetry may permit the water supply to become contaminated before it pass on the spigot . And when it comes to individual well H2O , pollutants can participate the groundwater from farsighted distance over an extended period without the owner ’s knowledge .
Photo: Debbie Wolfe for Bob Vila
With a weewee test outfit , you’re able to be assure of your home ’s expert water quality or uncover threat to your health and safety . I recently test some of thebest pee trial kit , include DIY choice and sampling outfit for professional laboratory examination . Although the do - it - yourself kits did a good caper of monitoring the fundamental principle , my top overall choice was theSafe Home Ultimate Drinking Water Test Kit . It delivered the highest layer of particular and precision of all the outfit I test , and the test results included circumstances of data that I could expend to take action .
In this review I ’ll partake in my experience using the kit and why I think every homeowner or renter would be wise to make this investment funds .
Safe Home Ultimate Drinking Water Test Kit: At a Glance
Rating:9.3/10
PROS
CONS
Get the Safe Home Ultimate Drinking Water Test Kit atAmazon for $ 379.95 .
What is the Safe Home Ultimate Drinking Water Test Kit?
There are plenty of time when a comprehensive water psychometric test could be helpful , such as when move into a fresh home , after a inundation or other born disaster , before or after nearby ground development , or when supervise the event of nearby agricultural or industrial operations . The Safe Home Ultimate Drinking Water Test Kit allows you to bow urine samples for testing in an EPA - certified lab and incur detailed results in less than 2 weeks . It is well suited for examination water from almost anywhere , admit utilities , wellspring , bound , cisterns , and other sources .
The kit comes with a circle of vas that you satisfy with imbibition water and ship to the science lab . The lab test for 200 different parameters , including 12 forcible property , 7 inorganics , 31 metals , 20 semi - fickle organic chemical compound , and 130 explosive organic compounds . Unlike dip strips and other at - home tests , this kit extend the accuracy to confirm if water exceeds the federal maximum contaminant level established by the EPA for pledge piddle .
The test result , which are emailed to you within 7 to 10 clientele days after arrival at the lab , include the precise numeral value and status - of - safe information for each cover contamination . One of the most plebeian drinking piss safety concerns is the presence of biological contaminants like E. coli and other coliform bacterium . This kit come with a DIY test for bacteria in water that is completed at home by the vendee .
Photo: Debbie Wolfe for Bob Vila
How does the Safe Home water test kit work?
TheSafe Home water samplingprocess could not be made simpler . Users must first read their kit on the Safe Home internet site to initiate the cognitive operation . Then it ’s a mere matter of filling the sample containers , bundle them in the padded loge , and affixing the let in postpaid shipping recording label . Then the substance abuser drops off the package at a UPS Store and vigil for the e-mail with results . My results arrived in 9 days .
There is no closed book to pack caliber samples , and you have choice look on your specific goals . For those who are most interested in the water source , the didactics recommend letting the urine lam for 5 minute before collecting sample . If you ’re more interested in what your plumbing is doing to the water , it ’s recommended to take samples first thing in the morning after the H2O has rested in the pipes for at least 6 hours . The most critical factor is eubstance , which mean accept all samples at the same time from the same author .
What does the Safe Home water test kit test for?
The Safe Home Ultimate Drinking Water mental test Kit check mark for 200 H2O - quality parameters . Some of these are measurements of forcible characteristics , such as pH , alkalinity , hardness , total dissolve solids , and turbidity . Others are microscopic particle of course occurring elements that are present in the local bedrock , such as smoothing iron , atomic number 20 , atomic number 12 , and others . It also checks for heavy metal such as cadmium , lead , Ni , and zinc .
What sets this kit apart from DIY tests and many research laboratory tests is its ability to check for a huge range of environmental pollutants associated with industrial , farming , and automotive activity . These volatile organic compound ( VOCs ) admit Master of Theology ( germicidal byproducts ) , solvents , and various petrochemicals . They may be direct introduced into wastewater ; disappear from the point of use until haste brings them back to earth ; or could result from the runoff of farm field , parking lots , and roadway that makes its means to lakes , streams , and river . Once they are in the water system supply , they become a health worry . This kit check-out procedure for 150 fickle and semi - volatile constituent compounds roll in the hay to accumulate in water system .
Are the results from the Safe Home water test Kit reliable?
I always considered my tap water “ mean ” in most deference . In the forenoon there is sometimes a Cl smell , but the residuum of the clip it tastes and smells fine . I get a little bit of limescale buildup on the garden hosepipe connecter if I leave it on the hosiery all summertime , but nothing extraordinary . Still , I was happy to receive water test resultant role that basically articulate the body of water is okay . But how do I recognise I can intrust those upshot ?
The trial results are quantified with specific numeric values , unlike coloring - coded trial strips that indicate a numeral ambit and are subject to abjection . When the consequence arrived , any insecure stage would have been clearly argue . The included materials also offered solutions for any lineament issues that I might encounter . The lab that testedthe sample distribution iscertified by the EPA . It is also an fighting fellow member foundation of both theAmerican Water Works Associationand theNational Rural Water Association . The scientists work on there have more than 150 years of combined experience testing drinking H2O . So , yes , the outfit , the research laboratory , and the scientists are reliable and trustworthy .
Is the Safe Home water test kit worth the money?
As a one - sentence expense , the well-nigh $ 400 monetary value tag for this kit may seem a minute high , especially if you ’re shopping for DIY tests with only a fistful of parameters . However , the per - parameter price is in reality in line with those DIY kits . DIY test stripswith 15 or 17 parameters average out about $ 30 , or $ 2 per parameter , which is roughly the same as this 200 - parameter outfit priced at just under $ 400 . And , as note originally , the level of preciseness from this lab tryout is light - years beyond the approximate estimates cater by plunge airstrip . That is why I recommend theSafe rest home science lab testto set up a service line of information and dip strips for frequent monitoring .
Should you buy the Safe Home water test kit?
The Safe Home Ultimate Drinking Water Test Kit is easy to use and provides highly detailed results within about 2 workweek . In addition to quantify the physical properties of the piddle , it check for a extensive range of common environmental pollutant . Such a detailed drinking - pee test can bid peace treaty of psyche when it confirms that you have clean , safe drinking water — or it can reveal an topic that is well dealt with sooner rather than afterward . Either way , it ’s a useful tool . I would recommend it to anyone who has never done a thoroughgoing water trial , and for those who live nearby possible sources of water pollution .
Meet the Tester
Mark Wolfe is a writer and product examiner with an broad background in the nursery and landscape gardening manufacture . For more than 20 years he cut down , edged , planted , pruned , train , irrigated , and renovated beautiful landscapes . Now he quiz and writes reviews about the latest out-of-door power equipment , hand peter , lawn - care product , and other outdoor - be good .
Everything You demand for a Lush and Healthy Lawn
hold back your grass fleeceable and your plants expand does n’t just take a light-green thumb — it starts with the right tool and provision .
Photo: Debbie Wolfe for Bob Vila
Photo: Debbie Wolfe for Bob Vila