OUR PICK - The New York Times' Wirecutter

“All of this makes Tap Score by far the most user-friendly and informative home water quality test kit we found"

"If you want a complete picture of what’s in your water, we strongly recommend that you go with one of the send-away kits and let a professional lab do the testing.”

Best Overall Test Kit 2024

"Tap Score is not affiliated with a water treatment company but will offer you advice on how best to use your water to help keep your family safe."

"Be wary of the many do-it-yourself test kits sold online or in hardware stores, in which you test a sample of water in your own home without sending it to a lab. It's not always clear what they test for or how accurate they are. Instead, the EPA recommends using a certified lab".

Best for Home 2023

"The Tap Score Advanced water test kit gave us thorough results at a discount compared to the Safe Home lab test and did a great job of explaining the contaminants. The testing regimen was less detailed than Safe Home’s, but the interpretation of the results was outstanding."

“The Water Systems Council endorses a mail-in water test from SimpleWater called Tap Score. "

"Tap Score doesn’t actually do the testing, but it gets your samples to certified commercial labs that may not be prepared for consumer trade. It sends you a water testing kit to mail back. Then you get an easy-to-understand explanation of the results and recommendations for what kind of filter (or filters) would be best for your home.”

“Mr. Olson said no over-the-counter kits are reliable for testing for arsenic. The Natural Resources Defense Council recommends using a state-certified drinking water lab; a list is on the E.P.A.’s website. Some labs, like mytapscore.com, will do a test at a reasonable price, Mr. Olson said. He suggested asking for a discounted test for an array of contaminants. If affordability is an issue, you could consider only an arsenic test, which will cost less.”

"The blended solution of professional lab tests, using a DIY kit will make the most sense for most folks from both a practical and cost standpoint…Tap Score is an affordable service for easy home water testing and analysis. It’s more expensive than the individual kits you’d buy on Amazon, but not prohibitively so. And the reporting and recommendations you get from Tap Score are as detailed as what you’d get from a professional tester, but far easier to read and understand."

"Because professional services can take time and be more expensive and because the test-it-yourself products are not the most reliable, using a mail-in service is a great option...For example, Tap Score is a series of products offered by the company Simple Water. They offer both city water and well water options; they offer tests specific to lead but also for other contaminants."

"In New York City, where many of The Verge’s staff live the city’s water quality is a point of pride. It gets regularly tested for contaminants as it makes its way from distant reservoirs to our pipes and it has won awards and taste tests. This water doesn’t have lead when it enters the city’s water system but some older buildings and homes in the city still have lead in service lines that connect to the main distribution lines and tiny bits of lead can dissolve into the water there. The situation in NYC isn’t nearly as dire as in other parts of the country where lead levels that are higher than Flint’s can be found but it is still a concern…For the latest Verge Science video we decided to focus on lead which gets into our water a lot closer to home than you might think."

"SimpleWater announced the launch of Tap Score Pro, a new approach to measure the concentrations of the most common contaminants found in homes. The testing program is designed to identify various chronic toxins at efficient costs by utilizing plumber expertise and state-of-the-art laboratory testing facilities…’The scale takes into account the presence of contaminants, the extent of those contaminants and then thirdly, the kind of certainty in the scientific community around the impact of that contaminant,’ said SimpleWater CEO, John Pujol."

"Water quality has caught the concern of homebuyers like never before… More than ever, consumers and families want to understand the toxins they are exposed to on a regular basis. These are called chronic environmental health exposures. Since we Americans spend 90% of our time indoors, it’s important to consistently identify and evaluate potentially hazardous materials and parameters which we may be ingesting on a daily basis."

"The [Tap Score Pro] testing program is designed to identify various chronic toxins at efficient costs by utilizing plumber expertise and state-of-the-art laboratory testing facilities. To kick off the initiative, the company is seeking 1,000 plumbers across the U.S. to submit samples from their customers’ homes to test for toxic contaminants."

"To kick off the Tap Score Pro initiative, SimpleWater is seeking 1,000 of the best plumbers across the country with the expertise, trust and cooperation required to sample their customers’ homes for toxic water contaminants. SimpleWater pays each plumber $55 for every sample collected. Customers get $300 worth of home water testing, health risk assessment, and water treatment technology recommendations for a wholesale rate available through their plumber."

“Of the three tests that we took, Tap Score was the easiest. It also had the most comprehensive results, including measurements for things like copper (which only makes you sick at very high levels, but can kill your goldfish at a much lower threshold), hexachlorobutadiene (which can affect the kidneys), and isopropylbenzene (which may increase risk of cancer)… If your test turns up positive, Tap Score offers you potential solutions.”

"In the wake of various water quality crises from Flint, Michigan and Puerto Rico there is a growing interest and demand among consumers for home water testing. Enter DIY water testing kits like Tap Score by SimpleWater."

"Test your drinking water for up to 400 contaminants with Tap Score by SimpleWater, a science and health services firm founded by team of UC Berkeley scientists and entrepreneurs with a goal of improving drinking water and long-term health."

"You just need to take a few samples, mail them to the lab, and you'll get the results back in 10 days, telling you about lead levels, copper and cadmium content, arsenic, and other common hazardous materials that can make their way into water via pipes or wells."

"If you drink well water or live somewhere with infrequent municipal testing, it may be worth it to know as much as you can."

"In theory, municipal water supplies are safe. They’re monitored, tested, and treated by the powers that be. But of course, we know that doesn’t always work. And even if water is clean at its source, old pipes can introduce lead before the water gets to you."