Water Quality of your Drinking Water - Collaboration Forum - El Niño

What is the quality of your drinking water where you live? Are you able to drink the water directly from the sink? Who tests your water to ensure it is clean enough for human consumption?

Here is a really great National Public Radio news story about an eleven year-old girl who was concerned about the quality of her drinking water in Lone Tree, Colorado, USA. You can see the story here. 

Where I live in Damascus, Maryland, USA (a suburb about 45 minutes out of Washington D.C.) we are able to drink our water from the faucet. I often put the water into a "Britta filter" pitcher as I like to have my water cold, and I feel that having it go through the filter probably adds another layer of security. I was interested in finding out how my water that comes into my home is tested and deemed safe to drink, so I did a google search. I found this site very easily, and it then used the links to find the latest "tap water analysis report" for my area. I will like to use several GLOBE hydrology protocols to test my drinking water both at home and at work, and compare and contrast my results to those of the latest tap water analysis reports from the counties. 

What are some good GLOBE protocols to use when testing the quality of drinking water?

One of the best protocols I have used with students to test drinking water is the GLOBE Conductivity protocol using a TDS (Total Dissolved Solids) tester. Some water companies claim to provide very good qualaity drinking water when the water gets to the school or home but that the plumbing in the school, house or whatever other site is old and that is what changes the water quality at the site. If there is a way for students to take measurements of the water quality close to where the water comes into the home or school and then test at another site where the water has travelled through the plumbing system at the facility, this may give a good comparison as to how the plumbing system may affect the water quality. The higher the reading on the TDS tester (and the greater the conductivity) the more charged dissolved solids you have in the water and therefore the less pure. Students could always use distilled water and a standard solution to make sure their TDS tester is measuring accurately.