| As a brief personal story, I can tell you that I'd never | | | | you digestive problems, and even problems with the |
| even considered analyzing my drinking water at home | | | | brain. (My wife says I can't afford any more |
| until one of my next-door neighbors told me one day | | | | problems with my brain.) But knowing that lead was |
| that he had tested his water using a home | | | | the problem with our drinking water was |
| water-analysis kit and had found there to be lead in | | | | empowering. It allowed us to walk into the store |
| his water! | | | | armed with the knowledge that we needed to buy |
| The at-home lead test that my wife and I bought | | | | the right water filtration system. |
| was cheap and easy to use. And sure enough, we | | | | By the way, while we were shopping for a lead |
| found lead in our water. It made sense: our home | | | | filtration system we also bought a water-analysis kit |
| and our neighbor's house had both been built by the | | | | that will test our drinking water for the presence of |
| same contractor about thirty years ago, and we | | | | bacteria. You simply incubate a water sample for a |
| both had the same kinds of pipes which caused the | | | | little while, set the sample out at room temperature, |
| presence of lead. It was scary at first to realize that | | | | and see if it turns purple (which is good) or yellow |
| we were drinking liquid lead, especially when we read | | | | (which means we've got bacteria!). Here's hoping for |
| on the Internet that lead in drinking water can cause | | | | purple. |