From what I know, it would be cheaper to send water to lab for testing that buying all of the expensive test equipment yourself. I’m trying to test drinking water for led, fluoride, chlorine, and many other unwanted agents. Do you know of labs that do this for a reasonable price? Thanks.
If you’re talking about tap water, you can usually just email or call your local water department and they’ll give you the latest analysis of the municipal water supply.
I’ve done it a few times for homebrewing purposes - they tell you all sorts of interesting things.
It’s been more than 10 years since I tested water for a living, but you’re going to need more specificity than you have in your question. When people would call up and ask “How much does it cost to test water?” we would always say “How much have you got?”. You can test for a few simple analytes pretty cheaply, but if you get into testing for herbicides and pesticides, PCB’s, multiple metals, methy tert butyl ether, et. al. testing can run into several thousand dollars. You’ll need to know what needle you’re looking for in that particular haystack.
I work at a lab that does this sort of testing.
The price would depend on what exactly you want to test for. You specify Lead, Fluoride, and Chlorine, which shouldn’t be too expensive. Probably less than $100. It is the “many other unwanted agents” that might be expensive. It could be hundreds to thousands of dollars more. It really depends on what these unwanted agents are.
If you are on a city water system, they will be doing all these tests and many more. They should be able to provide you with a report.
If you are on your own well, then around here (Washington, USA) these tests would have been done when the well went into service.
You should be able to find a water testing lab in the phone book under Laboratories. Check to see if they test drinking water. If you are in western Washington, and can’t find a lab I would be happy to help you. My email is in my profile.
The EPA collects many of these local driking water reports. You can access them here:
Local Drinking Water Information
Whatcha looking for?
Labs can analyze for just about anything. I work in the environmental field and when ever I get asked questions like that I have the concerned party try to be more specific. Is there a leaking underground storage tank next door, specific odors, health problems, etc. (Most of the work I do is where there is a known source for the contamination. If there is no identifiable source life gets more difficult. Running a full suite of analyses is expensive and may not tell you what you need to know.)
Even then there is potable water that just smells and tastes terrible. Try coastal Georgia water sometime. It has a high sulfur concentration, but does not exceed any drinking water standards.
Individual metals in water run about $30. Petroleum in water figure $100 to $400 depending on what the source is. Secondary drinking water standards - $150. Primary drinking water - $400.
There are reagent test kits that can be used in the field without the expensive lab equipment, but they usually require, if they are to be somewhat accurate, a colorimeter to measure the strength of the reaction versus a standard. Not all of these are easy to use and some require a somewhat elaborate set up. Simpler test are less accurate and give either a yes or no answer (e.g. lead above a certain concentration).
Of course the samples have to be collected properly, preserved, and stored properly and delivered to the lab properly. If this is for some type of legal action you are better served by getting a professional to collect the samples and do the analysis.
I have had people give me milk jugs of ‘contaminated’ water or jars of something and expect that we can analyze it and go after the offender. It don’t work that way.
DISCLAIMER: All that legal stuff applies.