Water Hardness Test Kit or Lab Test: How to Test Your Water

There are three ways to learn how hard your water is. Nebraska Extension says test kits and dip strips are easy to use, cheap, and give a good estimate. It says a lab test is the move when you need a more exact number. If you are on a city supply, your utility may publish the figure already.

City water comes with paperwork. Nebraska Extension says city water operators must send out a water report each year. It is called a consumer confidence report. It may list the hardness of the water they deliver.

If it does not, ask. Nebraska Extension says you can contact the water supplier and request the figure.

Minnesota Health says the same thing in its own words. If your water comes from a community system, you can contact them directly for hardness information.

That path costs nothing and takes one phone call. Start there.

Nobody is testing your well for you. Minnesota Health says that if your water comes from a private well, you are responsible for testing it to make sure it is safe.

Nebraska Extension puts the risk plainly. Watching a private system is the owner's job. So a problem is more likely to go unnoticed there.

The EPA gives a yearly list. Test a private well every year for total coliform bacteria, nitrates, total dissolved solids and pH.

It also names the times to test right away. Test after a flood, digging, or new building nearby. Test if you repair any part of the well. Test if the water changes in smell, color or taste.

Hardness is not on the yearly list, because it is not a health issue. Add it to the order when you send a sample.

Nebraska Extension is fair about the cheap option. Many hardness test kits and dip strips are sold. It says they are easy to use and cost little. It says they can give a good estimate of hardness.

That is enough for most calls you make at home. A strip will tell you which side of 7 grains per gallon you sit on.

Nebraska Extension does add a warning. Some home tests give numbers you can trust. Others do not. Know what the test measures before you act on it.

Penn State has a sharper note about who hands you the strip. Many softening firms offer a free hardness test. It says a third party reading is better. A lab test is not expensive. It keeps you from being oversold.

We do not print the steps for reading a strip here. The mechanics differ by kit, and we found no public health source describing them, so the kit instructions are the thing to follow.

Nebraska Extension gives a clean rule. Consider a lab test if you need a more accurate number than a kit gives.

It repeats the point in its softening guide. A lab test is the more reliable read. It says that when a fix costs real money, it is wise to have an approved lab confirm how bad the problem is.

A softener is that kind of investment. So a lab test before you buy is money well spent.

Nebraska Extension says most water testing labs charge a fee for a hardness test. The EPA says to use only labs that are certified for drinking water. It adds that your local health department may test well water for free.

The EPA publishes a chart that matches a symptom to a test. It is worth reading before you send one sample and then need another.

Scaly residues, and soaps that do not lather, point to a hardness test.

If a softener is needed to treat hardness, the EPA says to test for manganese and iron. Those two ride along with hard water on many wells, and they change what equipment you need.

Stained plumbing fixtures or stained laundry point to iron, copper and manganese. An objectionable taste or smell points to hydrogen sulfide, corrosion and metals.

Numbers come back in grains per gallon or milligrams per liter. Both are standard.

Penn State's table gives the bands. Water from 7.0 to 10.5 grains per gallon is hard, which is 120 to 180 ppm. Above 10.5 grains per gallon, or 180 ppm, it is very hard.

Then there is the decision line. Minnesota Health says that above 7 grains per gallon, or 120 mg/L, you might need a softener to keep appliances running well.

Penn State agrees from the other direction. Below 7.0 grains per gallon, it says you probably will not get major scaling and soap film.

This step gets skipped, and it is the one that proves the money worked.

Nebraska Extension says to test again now and then once the gear is in. The point is to see whether it does what it promised.

It also names a warning sign to act on. If the unit seems to use more salt than expected, or the water is not soft, have a service provider check the settings.