Water analysis

[jayhawk]

How does one obtain a water analysis? What is the cost? I live near Vancouver BC, Canada. Peace, Chris.

[Azorean Brewer]

Chris, is this well water or city supplied. If it is city supplied, there should be a link to your water suplly via some type of county / city web page. I found mine here in S.C. and I emailed them for an analysis and they emailed me back all kinds of information "free". I don't know about up north of the border?

If it is well water check with your local agricultural cooperative. They may help you out. Good Luck,

Paul.

[andytv]

If all else fails, you could call a water softener salesman and schedule a visit. These guys will perform all sorts of tests on your water to show you how bad it is and how much you need their system. If you pay attention, and ask questions, you can glean some of the details from his/her test results. A word of warning; these can be high pressure salesman, be prepared. The fellow that came to my house claimed that spring water causes cancer. He did, however, enjoy drinking the beer brewed with my "cancer water" during his pitch.

Andy

[bredmakr]

if you are on municipal water contact the water district and they can supply you with the analytical data you need free of charge. you already paid for the analysis when you paid your water bill. be sure to ask them for raw water data and for distribution water data. depending on the type of treatment and source of water (surface water vs groundwater) the chemistry of the water at the point of distribution may be quite different from the raw water at the well head or surface water intake. if you have your own well then your local health department (canadian equivalent) should be able to give you an idea of the general quality. for even more information you can contact the Environment Canada Division of Water and they can direct you to published documentation that provides the general water quality of the aquifer your well is completed within. Other possibilities would be to contact a water supply contractor in the area that has hydrogeologists and/or geochemists on staff. If they do a lot of business in your area they should have the data immediately available to them or know where to get it for you.

Good Luck,
Mike