How to Choose the Right e-WaterTest Program for Your Home or Business

Updated

e-WaterTest is a professional water testing laboratory that has operated since 1948 and now delivers its kits through a partnership with SimpleWater Tap Score. To choose a program, start from two questions: are you testing a home or a business, and what do you need the results to cover? New clients begin through a dedicated start page, while existing clients use a separate access path. The site states that its kits test for 200+ contaminants and ship free both ways, but the public page does not list individual package names, prices, or turnaround times, so those specifics need to be confirmed with the lab before you order.

Start With the Two Decisions That Narrow Everything Down

The e-WaterTest site frames its offering around two audiences — residential customers and industry/business customers — and around a single broad capability: 200+ contaminants spanning lead, heavy metals, inorganics, pesticides, herbicides, industrial waste, chlorine disinfection byproducts, and more. That means your choice is mostly about scope and setting, not about picking from a long menu of named products.

Decision Why it matters What to do
Home vs. business The site separates residential and commercial/industrial service, and its client list includes federal agencies, scientific labs, engineering firms, and hospitals Identify which category you fall into before browsing kits
What you want tested The lab covers 200+ contaminants, but a single kit is unlikely to cover all of them at once Write down your specific concern (e.g., lead from old pipes, a private well, disinfection byproducts)
New vs. existing client The site routes these two groups differently New clients use the "New Clients Begin Here" path; existing clients use the existing-client login path

If You Are a Homeowner

Home testing is the simpler case. The site describes its kits as shipping to your mailbox with pre-paid return shipping and award-winning customer support, and the analysis is still performed by Don Lilley and the eWaterTest lab even though the kits were upgraded through the Tap Score partnership at UC Berkeley.

A practical way to choose:

  1. Define the trigger. Are you on a private well, in an older home with possible lead plumbing, or just want a baseline? The site lists lead, heavy metals, inorganics, pesticides, herbicides, industrial waste, and disinfection byproducts as covered categories.
  2. Match scope to trigger. If your concern is narrow, ask the lab whether a smaller kit covers it rather than assuming you need the broadest package. If you want general reassurance, ask which kit covers the widest set of the 200+ contaminants.
  3. Confirm the logistics before paying. Ask how the kit arrives, how you collect the sample, and how the pre-paid return shipping works. The site confirms free shipping both ways but does not describe the sampling procedure on the page.
  4. Expect upgraded reporting. The site states the Tap Score partnership brought improved reporting and a dedicated service team, so results should come through the newer format rather than the legacy one.

If You Are a Business, Agency, or Institution

The commercial side is broader. e-WaterTest states that its clients include federal agencies, scientific labs, engineering firms, and hospitals, and names the Statue of Liberty–Ellis Island Foundation, NASA (Cape Kennedy), NOAA, the US Army Corps of Engineers, the US Navy at Travis Air Force Base, the US Fish and Wildlife Service's Welaka National Fish Hatchery, Sonoco Plastics, and St. Luke's Hospital among them. The lab says it is staffed by professional chemists, engineers, and microbiologists who have held public water supply and treatment plant operator licenses.

For this audience, the site's own framing points to a conversation rather than a self-serve checkout:

  • State your purpose. The site says the lab has experience testing "for any purpose," which suggests compliance, due diligence, and process water are all in scope — but you should confirm your specific regulatory or internal requirement with the lab.
  • Ask about scope beyond the standard 200+ list. Industrial and process water needs may fall outside a residential kit's coverage.
  • Use the contact channel. The site lists [email protected] and 888-346-9928 for questions, and notes a dedicated service team for customers.

What the Site Does Not Tell You

The public page does not list package names, prices, turnaround times, detection limits, or accreditation details. It also does not specify which contaminants appear in which kit. Because of that, the honest answer to "which program should I pick" is: pick by audience and by the contaminant you care about, then confirm the exact kit, cost, and reporting timeline directly with the lab through the listed email or phone number. Do not assume a kit is free or that ordering requires no account — the page only states that shipping is free both ways.

A Short Checklist Before You Order

  • I know whether I am a residential or commercial/industrial customer.
  • I have written down the specific contaminant or water source I am worried about.
  • I have confirmed which kit covers that contaminant, since the site does not map contaminants to packages.
  • I have confirmed price, turnaround time, and sample collection steps with the lab.
  • I know whether I am a new client (start page) or an existing client (separate access path).
  • I have the contact details: [email protected] or 888-346-9928.

If you can answer all six, you have enough to place an order or open a scoped conversation with the lab. If any are unanswered, contact the lab first — the site's own structure treats new clients, existing clients, and commercial customers as three different entry points, and matching the right one is the fastest way to the right test.