Frequently Asked Questions

You should be sampling your drinking water for various reasons as it concerns your health and the health of your family. In addition to illness, a variety of less serious problems, such as taste, colour, and odour are signs of possible water quality issues.

If your water comes from a private water well, you are solely responsible for assuring it is safe. For this reason, routine testing for the parameters covered in the Advanced Well Test is highly recommended. Even if you currently have a safe, clean water supply, regular testing can be valuable to establish a record of water quality. Having an understanding of your historical and current water quality may be helpful in solving any potential future problems and obtaining compensation if someone damages your water supply.

If you are purchasing your water from a public/municipal water system, your water will be monitored at the source of treatment. These results will be publicly available from your local municipality. However, the water quality can change as the water travels through the pipes to your tap, including contaminants such as lead.

Very few water treatment companies rely on an accredited and licensed laboratory to perform the free water testing. Typically, tests are completed with portable water quality meters or test strips for specific parameters that may not provide sufficient information about your water quality to allow for an interpretation of the water type and source of issues, if any. The precision and accuracy of the results can not compare to those analyzed by an accredited and licensed laboratory.

In addition, My Water Quality does not sell water treatment systems. Our only mission is to provide knowledge to those who would like to understand what is in their drinking water. My Water Quality will provide a water report card that provides each homeowner with the complete water quality results from the accredited and licensed laboratory along with a water "score" based on the Canadian Water Quality Index for three water quality categories: all heath, aesthetic, and operational guidelines for the parameters tested. Guidance is provided on what could treatment options could be utilized to improve the water quality.

The majority of home testing kits use test strips to determine the general water quality. These test strips can serve as an initial screening tool, but do not provide the level of accuracy or precision to effectively compare concentrations to legislative guidelines. These test strips will give a range of results rather than a specific number. For example, a test strip for lead may have a minimum detection limit of 0.015 mg/L but the Ontario Drinking Water Objective for lead is 0.01 mg/L. Therefore, this test strip only detects lead if it is 50% higher than the health-related guideline.

My Water Quality's laboratory accurately measures a variety of water quality parameters to determine water quality. This approach allows for an improved understanding of any potential water quality issues and aids in ensuring the correct treatment options are considered.

You should test your water annually for the parameters in the Advanced Well Test and bacteria (Add-on Package A, or through your health unit) to ensure that there have been no changes in your drinking water quality over time. More advanced chemical testing, such as parameters in the industrial and agricultural packages can be done less frequently.

You will receive notification that your results are available on mywaterquality.ca within ten (10) to fifteen (15) business days. Your results will remain in your profile for future reference.