How Tap Score Works: The Ultimate Guide to Certified Lab Water Testing

Sending a tap water sample to a lab for analysis reveals valuable information about your water quality, but it’s not always the easiest thing to do. Tap Score simplifies many of the complexities associated with lab testing: No lab appointment, no uncertainty around what to test, no guesswork around sampling equipment and methods. 

This guide walks you through each step of testing with Tap Score in detail, including how to activate your kit, the difference between a first draw and a fully flushed sample, when to ship so your sample arrives in proper condition, and how to interpret what comes back. 

Tip: If you have a kit on your counter right now, start with “Activation” and work down.

Table of Contents: 

1. Step 1: Order Your Test Kit
2. Step 2: Collect Your Water Sample
3. Activating Your Kit
4. Sampling Guidance
5. Step 3: Ship it to the Laboratory
6. Step 4: Results to Your Inbox
7. Interpreting Your Report
8. What Does “Powered by SimpleLab” Mean?
9. Frequently Asked Questions

Step 1: Order Your Test Kit

Tap Score kits are all-inclusive mail-to-lab kits. That means everything required to collect a valid sample ships to your door, and everything required to get it back to the laboratory (at no extra cost) ships with it. No coordinating multiple moving parts, no uncertainty around what’s necessary and what’s not.

Choosing the Right Kit

When deciding what kit to order, the first question you want to ask is: What is your water source?

Municipal / public utility (or “city”) water and well water carry different risks:

• On a public water utility? Because your tap water is treated and regulated, the most common risks are heavy metals, such as lead, picked up from your — and the city’s — plumbing after the water leaves the utility, as well as the disinfection byproducts formed by chlorinated water treatment.
  
  Tap Score’s Advanced City Water Test covers these key parameters and more. Utility customers should start here:

• On a private well? Your water is not regulated or treated, so bacteria, nitrate, naturally occurring metals, and local risks matter more.
  
  Tap Score’s Advanced Well Water Test was recommended by Wirecutter as the best home well test. Includes overnight shipping. Well owners should start here:

Tap Score offers a variety of comprehensive water test kits designed to address a range of analytes relevant to your water source. They are excellent at providing a foundational understanding of your water quality. You can also order specialized single-contaminant (e.g. Glyphosate) or specific contaminant-class tests (e.g. VOCs) if you already know what you are looking for. 

Note: We recommend ordering specialized tests after establishing your baseline.

How Do I Test My Well Water in a Lab?
Renters’ Guide to Water Testing

What Arrives in the Box

Every Tap Score kit is designed to address exactly what is required for your testing panel. Unlike testing directly with a lab, you don’t need to worry about coordinating your sampling materials. This is easy to underestimate: Sample containers/vials are not interchangeable, some panels require coolers or preservatives.

• Labeled sampling containers. Different analytes require different container materials and preservatives. For example, microbiological analytes (e.g. bacteria) need to be collected in a sterile container. Your kit contains the correct containers for your panel, labeled with your test’s Report ID.*
• Sampling instructions. Step-by-step guidance on which method to use and where to collect are written clearly and succinctly. Follow these over any general advice because they are specific to your panel.
• A sample information card. You record the collection date, time, and location. This is your “chain of custody,” and the laboratory needs it to accept your sample.
• A prepaid return shipping label. Already addressed to the laboratory that will run your panel.
• Cold packs, if your panel needs them. Some analyses are temperature sensitive and ship with cooling materials.

*Your Report ID is a six-character alpha numeric digit code (e.g. ABC123) that serves as the unique identifier for your sample and is how the laboratory team keeps track of your sample.

Tap Score Quality Assurance and Quality Control 

How Quickly Your Kit Arrives

Tap Score fulfills orders from a distribution center in Berkeley, California, shipping Monday through Friday via FedEx. Most orders ship within 36 hours of being placed and arrive within two to four business days.

If you are on a deadline, overnight shipping is available on select products. Overnight orders need to be placed before 2:00 PM PST to ship the same day, and overnight processing runs Monday through Friday only. Weekend orders ship the following business day.

Note: If your timeline is tight, email support@mytapscore.com before you complete your order rather than after. It is much easier to route a kit correctly up front than to chase it later.

If you’re testing for business purposes, consider SimpleLab, Inc., the software platform that coordinates lab testing logistics.

Step 2: Collect Your Water Sample

Every Tap Score report is a snapshot of your water quality at a specific tap, at that specific moment. That means how and where you collect matters as much as which panel you ordered. Each Tap Score test kit (i.e., each Test ID) is designed for a single sample at one location.

Note: You are free to collect your own drinking water sample for lab testing. Outside of testing specifically for New Jersey’s Private Well Testing Act (PWTA), or if you are otherwise directly specified for compliance (e.g. certain VA/FHA lenders), your sample does not need to be taken by a lab technician to be valid.

Activating Your Tap Score Kit

Activation is a vital step that should be performed when you’re ready to begin. 

Activate your kit at app.mytapscore.com/activate before you collect your sample. 

Why activation matters

Activation is what connects the physical kit in your hands to your digital account and to the laboratory's records. The activation process will pair your email address with the test so you can receive updates about testing and results. It also allows you to enter your digital sample information so it is saved for reference later.

Without it, your sample can still be analyzed, but your results have less context and may take longer to reach you.

Make sure your emails match

If you have a Tap Score account, the email address you use to activate your kit must match the email used to create your Tap Score account. 

Creating an account is free. Contact support if you need help with email address discrepancies.

Important: Activate only once per kit.

Where to Collect Your Water Sample

When you’re testing your water to learn about possible health risks, sample from the tap you actually drink from the most often. Usually, that’s the kitchen faucet.

If your one kit contains several bottles, they all get filled from the same faucet. Testing a second location requires a second kit. 

Some testing packages include multiple sampling containers because each container will be used to test for different contaminants, or the laboratory requires additional containers to validate results. In order to run the full analysis properly, each container needs to be filled from the exact same location (faucet, spigot, tap, etc.).

A First Draw or Fully Flushed Sample?

There are two standard water sample collection methods, and they answer two different questions:

1. First draw means collecting water that has been sitting still in your pipes for six to 18 hours, which in practice means first thing in the morning, before anyone in the household runs any water. The first draw method:
   - Captures what your plumbing is contributing
   - Is the ideal choice for lead, copper, and nickel testing
   - Represents a worst-case scenario for pipe-related contamination
   
   
2. Fully flushed means running the tap for roughly five minutes first, clearing the standing water out of your pipes. The fully-flushed method:
   - Captures your source water quality
   - Is recommended for VOCs and for bacteria testing
   - Is better for compounds that dissipate quickly into air

Your kit instructions will tell you which method your panel calls for. If you are testing to compare both plumbing and source issues, then that will require two separate tests.

Do You Test Before or After Buying a Filter?

If you have a water filter, water softener, or other water treatment device installed, you need to decide what answer you’re looking for:

• To assess your untreated water (helpful when deciding what filter you need), collect your sample from a faucet before the water passes through any filter, softener, or treatment unit.
• To assess your filter's performance, collect your sample from a source after the water has passed through the device (e.g. a glass of filtered water).

Comparing the two results requires two separate tests, one for each side of the filtration process. This is often referred to as performance testing.

Some Sampling Do's and Don'ts

Do:

• Collect from your primary drinking water tap
• Use the same faucet for every bottle in one kit
• Fill VOC vials completely, right to the top so that no air bubbles are left inside after the cap is on.
• Fill out the sample information card fully, including date and time

Don't:

• Use one kit to test multiple faucets
• Leave air space (headspace) in a VOC vial, because volatile compounds escape into that air and your result will be inaccurate
• Improvise a container, since the panel is matched to the bottle it ships in
  

How to Collect a Water Sample for Laboratory Testing

Step 3: Ship to the Laboratory

Every Tap Score water test kit includes a prepaid return label addressed to the correct laboratory. Peel it and stick it where it is clearly visible, and drop the package at a carrier location. There is no need to wait in line or pay anything.

When to Ship

We recommend shipping the same day you collect. This is important: many analytes have limited hold times, meaning the window during which a laboratory can still produce a valid result. Bacteria samples are especially time sensitive. Kits with refrigeration or cooling included are particularly time-sensitive. 

Practical timing guidance:

• Best days to ship: Monday through Wednesday. Your sample reaches the lab during the working week rather than sitting in a facility over the weekend.
• Avoid shipping Friday, particularly with an overnight label, since the sample may sit until Monday.
• If you’re unsure about your samples but cannot ship the same day, contact support@mytapscore.com before sending. Our customer support team can help guide you.

If your kit or sample seems lost

Track the shipment through your Tap Score account. Carrier tracking can lag 24 to 48 hours. If it still has not turned up, reach out through live chat or email.

Shipping with Tap Score

Step 4: Results to Your Inbox

Once the laboratory processes your sample, analysis can begin. Laboratory analysis is handled by trained professionals according to certified standards. Once analysis is complete, Tap Score will email your results in an interpretive, easy-to-read format. 

How Long Results Take

Laboratory testing for most of our kits is usually completed within three to five lab business days. It’s worth noting, however, that turnaround time (TAT) refers to full business days AFTER the lab has received the sample, not from the day you placed your order. That means the day your sample arrives is day 0; shipping time in either direction is not part of it.

Some analytes simply take longer. Radiological analysis, certain pesticides, and other specialized methods involve longer preparation and instrument time that cannot be compressed without compromising the result. If your panel includes one of these, the timeline stretches accordingly, and each kit's product page lists its own turnaround.

RUSH Kits

RUSH kits are an option when you are working against a deadline. They carry an expedited turnaround from lab receipt and include an overnight return label.

Note: If you are uncertain about timing or need a firmer estimate for a closing date, inspection, or any other deadline, contact the Tap Score team at support@mytapscore.com before you order. It is far easier to match a kit to your deadline up front than to expedite one already in transit.

What You Get Back

Your completed Report will be emailed to you as soon as it’s ready. Signing in to your Tap Score account gives you access to both an HTML and a PDF version of the report.

A Tap Score report does not simply hand you a spreadsheet of numbers, as is common when testing directly with labs. Each detected parameter is shown with its measured concentration and compared against health-based benchmarks, alongside plain-language explanations and treatment guidance tied to what was actually found.

View a sample Tap Score report

How Your Results Are Scored: MCL, MCLG, and HGL

Three different benchmarks will show up in your water quality reporting, and they are not interchangeable:

• EPA MCL (Maximum Contaminant Level) is a legally enforceable federal limit for public water systems. It reflects what utilities can realistically achieve, factoring in treatment technology, detection limits, and cost.
• EPA MCLG (Maximum Contaminant Level Goal) is a non-enforceable public health objective: the level at which no known or expected health risk occurs, including a margin of safety. It is purely science-based, with no consideration of feasibility.
• Tap Score HGL (Health Guidance Level) is also non-enforceable, and is drawn from the most health-protective values published by trusted public health agencies. It was built to help interpret how sample results impact a household, not infrastructural feasibility.

This is why a result can come back legally compliant yet still be worth taking action. A contaminant may sit below its MCL while exceeding a health-based benchmark. Learn more about Tap Score’s HGL:

HGL vs MCLG vs MCL: What Drinking Water Standards Mean

Considering Treatment

Treatment should come after testing, not before. A filter certified to reduce one contaminant may do nothing for another, and a system optimized for the wrong issue is money spent without a measurable result. Your Tap Score report tells you which contaminants you actually have, as well as which are worth treating. 

And if the report isn’t clear enough, our staff of water science experts are happy to help:

The Top 4 Home Water Filter Technologies Explained

What Does It Mean to Be “Powered by SimpleLab”?

SimpleLab maintains a network of over 250 accredited analytical laboratories across the United States. With its own software platform, SimpleLab can coordinate large scale laboratory logistics, testing, and reporting. This means all Tap Score samples are analyzed at the optimal facility for fastest turnaround time while still meeting laboratory certification and test panel requirements.

Hundreds of companies utilize SimpleLab to maximize user experience and analytical performance. Are you a small business looking to scale up your testing program? For more information:

Contact the SimpleLab Team

Frequently Asked Questions

How do mail-in water test kits work?

A mail-in water test kit ships to you with sample containers and instructions included in the box. You activate the kit online, collect water at your own tap, and ship it out. An accredited laboratory runs the analysis and your results arrive by email.

How do I activate my Tap Score kit?

Go to app.mytapscore.com/activate and follow the prompts, or use the printed instructions in your box. Kit activation records your collection date, time, and location. Activate once per kit, before you collect your sample.

Do I need a Tap Score account to get my results?

No. Results will be delivered to your account in HTML and PDF form, regardless. However, if you have a Tap Score account, use the same email address to activate your kit and all your results will live in one place.

How long does a Tap Score water test take?

Most lab testing for common contaminants is completed within three to five lab business days, counted from the day after the laboratory receives your sample,  not from your order date. Specialized analytes take longer.

Are all Tap Score labs certified?

While Tap Score itself doesn't operate any of its own laboratories, every lab in Tap Score's nationwide network is independent and certified to ISO/IEC 17025, the global standard for analytical quality and accuracy. Learn more about Tap Score's lab certifications.

Can I test more than one faucet with one kit?

No. Multiple bottles or vials found within a single must be filled from the same faucet. Testing a second location requires a second kit.

What happens if I don't ship my sample right away?

Many analytes have limited hold times, and a delayed sample can produce an invalid result. Contact support@mytapscore.com before shipping a sample that has been held, so the team can confirm whether it is still viable.

Do I need to refrigerate my water sample?

Temperature-sensitive panels ship with instructions to add wet ice or cold packs included, so if your kit contains them, use as directed. Follow the instructions in your specific kit, as requirements vary by analyte.

How will I know when my results are ready?

You'll receive an email notification when your results are ready to view. You can share your report securely as well.

Can I just use test strips instead?

No, if you want a comprehensive picture of your drinking water quality, or to make health-based decisions, lab testing is the right option.Test strips are limited by design and are not reliable for detecting harmful contaminants at health-relevant concentrations. They are useful for a narrow set of parameters, such as pH and free chlorine.