I live in an old apartment, and I'm afraid to drink the water from the faucet. How do I test if the water is safe to drink?
2007-10-02 08:01:41 · 7 answers · asked by willie41288 3 in Home & Garden ➔ Maintenance & Repairs
If it's water through the town or city, it is safe. City and town water departments are required to test the water regularly. If it wasn't safe, your town would issue a "boil order" where they would ask you to boil all water to be used for consumption for 10 minutes prior to drinking it or cooking with it. Occassionally, they do encounter problems with the system if there is a water break, so you should call them and ask them if there is any problem in the area. Usually if there is something wrong with the water supply, it will come out dirty or cloudy.
However, there is a possibility of there being a problem in the pipes inside the building such as rust. You should bring that up to the landlord and get a water filter for the time being.
2007-10-02 08:14:59 · answer #1 · answered by Xindy 4 · 0⤊ 1⤋
If you live in the US it is safe to drink. Your only concern should be lead solder on the pipes.
Only use cold water for cooking and drinking and let the it run for a minute or so the first time you use water from the faucet each day.
2007-10-02 15:05:38 · answer #2 · answered by Hex92 5 · 0⤊ 2⤋
I saw a test kit at Sears Hardware next to the water filtration systems. You simply put some water in the provided canister and mail it off and they will send you the results. I don't remember how much it cost.
2007-10-02 15:53:00 · answer #3 · answered by Harpal_Dhaliwal 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I live in a city where a hurricane damaged our sewage plant. Poo-poo in the streets. yuck! After that I will NEVER drink tap water again. We were under a boil warning for about three months.
2007-10-02 15:55:12 · answer #4 · answered by rickyswife2 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Call your town water department and ask for a home self test and they will send you one..
Good luck
2007-10-02 15:08:39 · answer #5 · answered by James 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Contact the health department in your county. They will provide you with the information you need to collect a sample and they will test it for you.
2007-10-02 15:09:04 · answer #6 · answered by sandwest 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Most health deaprtments will test it for you.Old plumbing is possibly contaminated with lead and bacteria.
2007-10-02 15:15:48 · answer #7 · answered by petethen2 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋