How To Test Water Quality At Home Without A Kit?

Are you anxious about the water quality at your home? Do you want to ensure that your family is drinking safe water? Well, there are numerous ways to check the purity of your water, including a laboratory test or buying a test kit. However, these methods can be costly and time-consuming. So, how will you test water quality without spending money? The good news is you can do it at home quickly using several simple methods.

In this article, I will tell you How to test water quality at home without a kit. As well as mentioning some important facts about why we must check water quality.

Why Do I Need To Check Water Quality?

Do you know our water could be contaminated with thousands of chemicals, including PFAS, Pesticides, and other toxins? You could be drinking one of those harmful chemicals if you are not checking the quality of your water. 

According to WHO, arsenic, lead, pharmaceuticals, nitrate or fluoride, pesticides, per and poly-fluoroalkyl substances (PFASs), and microplastics are also found in the water supply and are severe threats to human health. The most important reason to check water quality is to save ourselves from many diseases and disorders, such as diarrhea, hepatitis, congenital disabilities, cancer, and more. 

10 Best Ways – How to Test Water Quality Without A Kit?

Now that you know the need to check water standards, you must be wondering about the methods. Here is the list of 10 ways to test water quality at home without a kit:

1. Examine The Water Appearance With Naked Eyes

The first and most important thing to do in checking the water quality at your home is to observe the color and appearance of the water. You cannot detect chemicals or microbes by this method, but you can still look for the cloudiness or turbidity of water.

Water turbidity is not always harmful and can be due to excess air. However, this could also suggest metals or toxins in your water. Thus, you should always pay attention to the turbidity of water.

2. Examine Water With Magnifying Glass

After examining the water’s appearance with your naked eyes, do not forget to try it with a magnifying glass. You can do it by placing water in a clear glass and placing it near direct light. Take a closer look at the water; if you see any odd particles, do not drink it.

Red or brown particles in water result from iron contamination, while white particles indicate excessive minerals. These excessive minerals in your water can result in many GIT issues.

3. Smell The Water

You should trust your senses when not testing your water with a kit. Smelling and the water is a simple technique to experiment with water at home. Even the laboratorian smells the water during the testing. But what do different smells indicate? Here are some of the odors and their indications:

Well, if your water smells like bleach, it has chlorine. Higher amounts of chlorine are harmful to your body.

• A musty smell indicates the decay of organic matter in the pipe.
• Fuel-like smells are a strong indicator of industrial chemicals in your water.
• Rotten-egg or sulfurous odor is a sign of bacterial growth in water.
• An intense chemical odor indicates the presence of pesticides.

Also Read: Will a Carbon Filter Remove Sulfur Smell From Water?

4. Taste The Water

Tasting the water should be your last priority for doing a water test at your home. Pure water is tasteless; some tastes and flavors indicate the presence of impurities, such as:

• The metallic taste of water shows the extra amount of minerals or acidic water.
• Bleach-like taste indicates excess chlorine.
• If your water is salty, it indicates the presence of water softeners. It can only happen if the ion exchange water softener is installed inaccurately.
• The taste of medicine or TCP (trichlorophenol) is often linked to deteriorated components within tap fixtures, including washers, rubber extensions, and other fittings. These may include sealing rings in electric kettles and flexible hoses in washing machines and dishwashers.
• Plastic-like water taste is linked with inappropriate plumbing materials.

Note: Spit the water from your mouth if you feel any of these tastes after a sip. Never drink it!

5. Water Boiling For A Total Dissolved Solids Test

You can learn about the total dissolved solids(TDS) by boiling your water. Checking the water by this method requires you to boil it in a clean pot without a lid. After this, let the water cool down. Observing chalky white residue or sticky particles on the bottom of your pot indicates the high TDS in your water supply. This method doe not reveal the exact amount of TDS, but it will warn you to install a filtration system focused on TDS.

6. Soap Suds Test With Castile Soap

Another way to conduct a home-based water test without a kit is using a natural perfume-free soap such as Castile. You need to follow these simple steps to perform the soap suds test:

• Firstly, fill a clean, sterilized, and empty bottle with water,
• Add 3 to 4 drops of natural liquid soap, 
• Shake the bottle for at least 20 sec,
• Now, observe the water,
• Your home has hard water if you see cloudiness or a milky appearance.

7. Obtaining A Water Quality Report For Your Location

The most authentic way of ensuring water quality at home without a kit is to get a water quality report of your location. You can do it in three simple ways:

• The easiest and most reliable way to obtain a water quality report for your area is by visiting the EPA website. You will find the annual report and much more data about your water.
• Ask your water company to give you a report,
• Contact the local municipality and ask them to give you a copy of the annual water report of your area.

8. Kitchen Faucet Aerator Test

Your kitchen faucet tells a lot about the water you are drinking. If your water supply has a high amount of minerals, it can build up in your aerator, which is at the end of the faucet.  

Check the impurities in the water by removing the aerator and placing it into a bowl of white vinegar. You will see sediments settling in the bowl, showing that your water has excess minerals. The mineral content of drinking water should also be within a specific limit; otherwise, it can be harmful.

9. Toilet Flush Tank Inspection Test 

It sounds weird to inspect your toilet tank but trust me; it tells a lot about the water contamination. Here is the list of a few conditions of the toilet flush tank that indicates contamination:

• A blue or green stain in your flush tank suggests the presence of copper in your water.
• The rust color of the water is often linked with iron in your water.
• If your flush tank has black deposits at the bottom, your water has manganese or ferric sulfide.
• One of the grossest conditions of your toilet flush water tank is slimy deposits. It indicates iron bacteria.

All the conditions mentioned above indicate that your water supply is contaminated with chemicals, and you need a water filter system in your house.

10. Test The pH of Water Using Red Cabbage.

The pH of water should be maintained in a healthy range. Excessive higher or lower pH results in abnormal conditions in our body. Thus, knowing the pH of water is extremely important, and there is a method to test water pH without a kit. This natural method uses red cabbage as a pH indicator. Simple steps to check pH using red cabbage are the following:

• Grate the red cabbage with a clean knife and put it in a transparent bowl.
• Take a separate pot and boil two cups of distilled water.
• Pour the boiled water into the red cabbage.
• Hold a wooden spatula and stir for a few seconds.
• Wait for 30 minutes.
• The water is now purplish. Strain it and discard the cabbage.
• This purplish liquid will work as your pH indicator.
• Bring a separate bowl and pour a small amount of your drinking water.
• Add a few drops of red-cabbage pH indicator into the water,
• Observe the color of the water.

The water will be either acidic(pink), neutral(purple), or alkaline(greenish-blue). You can check the accurate pH by comparing your watercolor to a pH color chart. Red cabbage is a reliable pH indicator; however, you can also try other red vegetables or fruits, such as blueberries, plums, etc.

Now that we know the methods to test water quality for drinking at home without a kit let’s explore the way to do so with a kit. 

How To Test Water Quality In The Lab? 

Laboratory testing for checking water quality is the most reliable method; everyone should do it occasionally. EPA recommends trusting only ISO-certified laboratories for testing the water.

Labs follow these three tests to analyze the water sample:

1. Physical Test

In the physical test of water, the laboratorian observes the color, smell, taste, turbidity, amount of total solids, dissolved solids, and suspended solids.

2. Chemical Test

Chemical tests detect all the toxins found in your water. It also determines the water hardness, pH, and BOD. This critical test tells you about the number of chemicals, minerals, and oxygen in your water sample.

3. Bacteriological Test

A bacteriological test determines the presence of harmful microbes in your water sample. If any dangerous pathogen contaminates your water, you can get ill with numerous infectious diseases.

Conclusion:

Analyzing drinking water quality is essential for your and your family’s well-being. The quickest way to check the contamination in your water is by testing it at home with or without the kit. You can acquire a water quality report or conduct a laboratory test for precise results. However, when you require immediate results, consider exploring the above ten ways to test water quality at home without needing a specialized kit.