If you have your own well, your health and safety depends on getting your well water tested regularly (generally the recommended frequency is at least once per year). However, homeowners and well owners aren't the only ones who can and should get their water tested. If you live in the city and get your water from the municipal supply, it's important to have your water tested at some point in the interests of full disclosure and to allow you to make decisions about your own health and safety. There may be reasons why you'll want to have your water treated with a home treatment system even if it's relatively safe water that comes from the city. Here are two reasons to get your water tested even though it's municipally sourced.

1. In case of contamination from your pipes

The water may be perfectly safe when it leaves the treatment facility, but if your pipes are unsafe the water could still end up making you sick. For example, if you have super-ancient pipes they could be contaminating your water with lead because they actually have lead in them; or if you have slightly less ancient pipes made of galvanized steel with a zinc coating, there's a lead risk there as well (because as the zinc corrodes over time it can release lead into your water). Copper from your plumbing can also contaminate drinking water in some cases, and even plastic piping can affect water quality.

2. In case of hard water

Hard water, when present in the sort of concentration that can cause problems for your plumbing, is likely to make its presence felt eventually even if you don't get your water tested. Staining and scale buildup in the bathtub and other plumbing fixtures is a classic sign. However, if you live in a new house where the plumbing hasn't been used much yet and you don't want to wait for this buildup to occur before you start treating your water for hardness, you may wish to get the water tested right away to rule this problem out.

3. To check for low-level contamination

The municipal water treatment facility doesn't necessarily remove every single contaminant from the water; it simply ensures that contaminants are at safe levels so that they won't harm people. However, in some cases you may wish to have higher standards than the treatment facility does. For example, if you're on a low-sodium diet and you live in an area where the water naturally contains some sodium, you may wish to remove the traces left behind after the municipal treatments have reduced the sodium to a safe level. 

For more information, contact companies like Central Soft Water​.