What is Chemical Drinking Water Testing?
Chemical drinking water testing involves the assessment of a wide range of chemical substances that can be found in water sources. These chemicals may include:
- Inorganic Contaminants: These can include heavy metals such as lead, arsenic, and mercury, as well as minerals like iron and manganese. Inorganic contaminants can leach into water from natural geological formations or human activities.
- Organic Compounds: These encompass a broad category of chemicals, including volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and synthetic organic chemicals like pesticides, herbicides, and industrial chemicals. Some organic compounds can be toxic or carcinogenic in high concentrations.
- Disinfection Byproducts (DBPs): Chlorine and other disinfectants used to treat water can react with naturally occurring organic matter to form DBPs, such as trihalomethanes and haloacetic acids. Monitoring these byproducts is crucial to ensure water safety.
- Microbial Contaminants: While primarily a concern for microbiological testing, the presence of harmful bacteria, viruses, and parasites in water can also be evaluated through chemical tests that target specific indicators or metabolites associated with these pathogens.
- Nutrients: Excessive levels of nutrients like nitrates and phosphates can indicate contamination from agricultural runoff or wastewater discharges, which can lead to water quality issues such as eutrophication.
- pH and Alkalinity: These parameters measure the acidity or alkalinity of water, which can affect water quality and the performance of water treatment processes.
- Hardness: The concentration of calcium and magnesium ions in water, which contributes to water hardness, can be assessed chemically. High water hardness can lead to scale buildup in pipes and appliances.
- Corrosivity: The corrosive potential of water, which can affect plumbing systems and lead to the release of harmful metals, can be evaluated through chemical testing.
- Total Dissolved Solids (TDS): This measures the total concentration of inorganic and organic substances dissolved in water and can provide an overall indicator of water quality.
- Color and Turbidity: Chemical tests can also assess the color and turbidity of water, which can impact its aesthetic quality and the effectiveness of water treatment processes.
Chemical drinking water testing is a critical component of ensuring the safety and quality of drinking water. It helps water utilities, regulatory agencies, and individuals monitor and manage water supplies to meet health and environmental standards. Results from these tests guide treatment processes and, when necessary, trigger corrective actions to address contamination or quality issues, ultimately safeguarding public health.
Why The Chemical Drinking Water Test?
- To ensure that the water you and your family are drinking and using for cooking and other household purposes is safe and free from harmful contaminants.
- To ensure your business, rental property or the site you’re managing has safe drinking water and doesn’t get shut down due to regulatory issues.
- You may want to have these tests carried out if there are changes in colour, odour, or taste to your drinking water supply.
For more information on if this test is right for you, watch our video below.
Recommended for
Worried about your tap water safety? Want to know if your family, staff or tenants are drinking unsafe water? You need our chemical drinking water test.
Our testing service is recommended for the following:
- Homeowners.
- Landlords.
- Business owners with offices.
- Anyone who wants to ensure their water is safe to drink and use for cooking and other household purposes.
- Anyone living in an area with known contamination issues.
What can we do for you?
We test for a wide range of chemicals, and our drinking water analysis is approved by Irish Water and based on EU Drinking Water Regulations.
We’re experts at drinking water testing, processing over 10,000 samples yearly in our state-of-the-art with modern testing equipment and methods. We will test your water and make sure it meets safety standards.
Our Chemical Drinking Water Test includes:
Chemical Drinking Water Test Parameters
- pH
- Ammonia
- Nitrates
- Total Hardness
- Alkalinity
- Manganese
- Iron
- Dissolved Solids
- Conductivity
- Langelier Index (70°C)
Want to understand why we test for these parameters in simple English? Check out our FAQ guide.