Just how important is private water testing in Leesburg, VA? The short answer is, probably a lot more important than you realize. Remember, we’re talking about private water testing here, which means people who aren’t tied to a city or municipal water system. Specifically, that means people who have wells or springs on their property.
While municipalities have a variety of controls over public water systems, it’s far easier for a well or spring to become compromised. Our recommendation is to take advantage of our private water testing service in Leesburg, VA about once a year to make sure there are no problems or developing problems with your water supply.
We offer a wide range of tests that, broadly speaking, are broken into two major categories – Water Quality and Health-Related Concerns, both of which are incredibly important. Here’s a brief overview of the different types of tests we offer and the reasons you may want to make use of them:
Issues Surrounding Odor And Taste
Nobody wants to drink nasty smelling or foul-tasting water even if it’s technically safe to drink. One of the more common reasons people take advantage of private water testing in Leesburg, VA is to find out what’s making their water smell or taste bad, or have other unappealing characteristics.
After all, you can’t fix the problem unless you know exactly what’s causing it. To that end, we offer a variety of aesthetic tests, including:
Iron – If your sinks, toilet and tub are stained with a reddish-brown discoloration, the likeliest culprit is a high concentration of iron in your water. This test will confirm that to be the root cause of the issue.
Manganese – Like iron, a high concentration of manganese in the water coming into your home will stain your sinks, toilets and tub, along with any clothing you wash.
Sulfates – Does your water smell like rotten eggs? Sulfates are the likely culprit. This test will confirm that, and tell you how big a problem you’ve got.
pH – Not only does a very high or very low pH level impact the taste of the water you’re drinking, high pH levels can corrode the pipes in your home, which can cause a variety of dangerous metals to leach into the water your family relies on. This is an incredibly important test!
Hardness – You’ve almost certainly heard at least some people talk about how ‘hard’ their water is. The reason it’s a problem is that it causes an unsightly scaly residue to build up in your shower, tub, and sinks and hard water prevents soaps from lathering up properly.
And Total Dissolved Solids – A small amount of minerals in your water can actually be a good thing, but there is such a thing as too much of a good thing, and minerals in high concentration can dramatically alter the taste of the water you’re drinking, and usually not in a good way. This test will tell you what minerals are present, and in what concentrations.
Private Water Testing In Leesburg, VA – Health Related Concerns
It’s one thing to test your water from time to time so you can tweak its aesthetic properties but if the well or spring you rely on becomes contaminated, it can make you sick, or even kill you. If you’re chronically ill and you haven’t been able to trace the sickness back to a clearly defined source, it’s well worth considering your water supply and testing it if only to rule it out. Where health-related issues are concerned, we offer a trio of different tests, including:
Total Coliform Bacteria – Coliform bacteria is one of the most common causes of gastrointestinal illnesses. If you, or members of your family are experiencing chronic gastrointestinal issues, the water you’re drinking may be the culprit. This test will either confirm that or rule it out.
This should be considered the standard water safety test. Note that if the sample you send us fails this test, then we will automatically test further, for the presence of E-Coli bacteria.
Lead – This is the exact problem Flint, Michigan had with their water supply when the town made national news. In their case, the lead was introduced by automotive plants in the area, but many older homes in our area may have lead in their water leeching in from older pipes inside the home itself. This test will tell you exactly what the lead levels in your water are.
We’ve even seen a few cases where farms that relied on the heavy use of vehicles that ran on leaded gasoline in decades past wound up with high lead content in their private water supplies.
And Nitrates – If you live in an area where there’s lots of agricultural activity, you could easily have a high concentration of nitrates in the water you are drinking. The results of this test will tell you if the level of nitrates in your water is a problem. A high concentration of nitrates can lead to a variety of serious medical conditions and in extreme cases can even be fatal.
So which of these tests are right for you? There are no cookie cutter solutions but if you’re not sure what you should be testing for or worried about, the safe bet is to run the full spectrum of tests, especially if this is the first time you’re having your water tested.
That gives you a baseline to work from, and then, when you test in the future, you can limit your tests to only those that are most likely to have seen changes over the preceding twelve months. For example, testing for nitrates is a good idea for the first year’s test but unless you live in an area that sees heavy agriculture activity, you may not need to test for that on year two.
If you’re not sure which tests are most appropriate for you, don’t hesitate to give our office a call. In doing so, you’ll have the opportunity to speak with one of our knowledgeable technicians who can get some information about the particulars of your situation and make recommendations on that front.
Once you’ve settled on the specific tests you want, we’ll send you the appropriate sample containers for your needs, along with instructions on how to collect your water samples and where to take them for testing. Once we get the results of the tests you order back, we’ll get them into your hands via the delivery method you choose.
Here’s a quick overview of the process you’ll follow when taking water samples, regardless of the specific type of test you’re ordering:
- Use only the sample collection containers provided by us
- Don’t use our sample container if the seal is broken or if the bottle is cracked. In those cases, we will send you a replacement.
- Remove the aerator screen from the faucet you’ll be collecting your sample from.
- Soak a cotton ball with isopropyl alcohol.
- Swab the inside and outer portion of the faucet to ensure it is free of external contaminants.
- Run cold water for five minutes
- Without touching the insides of the collection container, open it.
- Fill the collection container to the 125 mL line.
- Screw the cap back on securely
- Write your name on the container
- Keep your sample cold or refrigerated until it is delivered to the lab or drop-off location nearest you.
That’s all there is to it. Private water testing in Leesburg, VA isn’t hard or complicated but it is more important than most people realize. It just doesn’t pay to take any chances where your family’s health is concerned. If you even suspect you have an issue with your water and you want greater peace of mind, or to map out a remediation strategy to fix whatever the problem is, the first step is testing, and we can help with that.
Since the day we first opened our doors, we’ve built our reputation by exceeding the expectations of every client we serve and we’d love the opportunity to impress you. Give us a call today and let’s talk about your water supply!