Hello all! I just wanted to welcome everyone to our new blog. This blog is designed to discuss and hopefully educate our visitors on all things lead in drinking water. We will be updating the blog every week so if you’re interested in lead in drinking water, stay tuned!

Why lead in drinking water testing and why now?

The Tap Water Watch leadership team’s experience lies in water quality monitoring and mapping with our sister company Source Water Watch. After the Flint Water Crisis, it was apparent that there was a HUGE problem in the USA with millions of lead service lines (the lead pipes that distribute water from the main to your house/school) and no easy solution for homeowners or schools to test their drinking water for lead contamination.

A USA Today article titled “Got lead in your water? It’s not easy to find out” solidified this theory and really lays out this problem well. The author, Alison Young, details her account of trying to find the best way to test her home’s drinking water for lead. She started with researching local laboratories and found out that most only work with repeat-business businesses and aren’t interested in one-off testing for homeowners or schools. Next she searched her local hardware store for alternative options: water test kits and strips. Both of which were sold by companies using sketchy certifications and claims leaving her uneasy and unconfident in their legitimacy.

How BIG is the problem?

With a bit of research, we were able to identify the size of the problem, which is pretty scary. According the EPA, roughly 10 million American homes, schools and buildings are supplied drinking water through lead service lines. Jerry Paulson, emeritus professor of pediatrics and environmental health at George Washington University, said in a recent interview. “Unless and until those pipes are removed, those communities are at some degree of risk.”

All public water systems are required to periodically test their drinking water for lead. In 2015, over 5,300 public water systems that serve over 18 million Americans were issued lead-related violations. That is 1 in 17 homes or schools in the United States. Here is a video for you to learn more about lead in water.

How we can help

We believe that every child has the right to live and learn in an environment with clean, lead-free drinking water.

For home owners, we make it easy for homeowners to order a lead in water testing kit that will be analyzed by a NELAC certified drinking water testing laboratory and results will be reported via email.

For schools, we make it easy to set up an appointment to have trained water samplers come to your school and collect water samples that will be analyzed by a NELAC and/or state certified laboratory and results reported via email. Click here to register your school.

There is not much profit in one-off water sample analysis. We entered this area of business to help concerned folks re-gain confidence in the drinking water they provide to their children and students.

If you have any questions or are interested in submitting topic ideas for future blog posts, please submit them to blog@tapwaterwatch.com