Most people looking for a water test kit do not need one. If you are on a mains supply in the UK, your water company already tests it thousands of times a year and publishes the results, and we hold those readings for 2,800 postcode districts. Start there. A kit earns its place when you want to check your own pipes rather than the mains, when you are on a private supply, or when you need a figure a strip cannot give you.
This guide explains what the three kinds of home water test, strips, digital TDS meters and laboratory tests, can and cannot tell you, when a lab test is worth paying for, how to read a result against the UK limits, and reviews the two strip kits worth buying.
According to TapWater.uk's 2026 guide, most UK households on a mains supply do not need a water testing kit, because their water company's compliance data already covers their supply zone. Strip kits such as the SimplexHealth 17-in-1 screen hardness, pH, chlorine and lead in minutes; no strip or TDS meter can detect PFAS or measure lead against the 10 µg/L limit. That needs a UKAS-accredited laboratory.
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Every UK water company samples its supply zones continuously and reports the results to the Drinking Water Inspectorate, which publishes compliance at over 99.9%. Those reports cover hardness, chlorine, lead, nitrate, iron, pH and dozens of other parameters, and increasingly PFAS. They describe the water leaving the network, which for most homes is the water at the tap.
Where they cannot help is the last few metres. Lead comes from a supply pipe or internal plumbing in older homes, not from the mains, so a clean zone reading says nothing about a 1930s terrace with its original pipe. Copper comes from new pipework. And a private well or borehole is not in anyone's data but yours. Those are the cases a kit is for.
Hardness, chlorine, lead, nitrate, PFAS and more, against the UK limits, for your supply zone. Free, and for most homes the only test you need.
Home water testing means one of three things, and they answer different questions. The table is the short version; the notes below explain the gaps.
| Question | Strips | TDS meter | Lab test |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hardness (limescale) | |||
| pH | |||
| Chlorine | |||
| Lead: is there any? | |||
| Lead: over or under the 10 µg/L limit? | |||
| Nitrate | |||
| Iron and copper | |||
| Bacteria | |||
| PFAS | |||
| Microplastics | |||
| Is my filter still working? |
A dash means the method gives a hint rather than an answer: a colour band for lead, a conductivity number for hardness, a 48-hour incubation for bacteria.
You dip a strip of chemical pads into a glass of tap water and match the colours to a chart. The result is a band, not a number: the SimplexHealth strip reports lead as a range, and whether you read it as the second or third shade depends on your eyes and your kitchen lighting. That is fine for hardness, pH and chlorine, where the bands are wide and the question is “roughly how much”. It is not fine for lead, where the UK limit of 10 µg/L sits inside a single band. Neither strip kit here detects PFAS, microplastics or pharmaceutical residues, and both say so.
A TDS meter is a pen-sized probe that measures how well water conducts electricity and converts that to total dissolved solids in parts per million. Almost all of what it measures is calcium, magnesium and other harmless minerals, so a high reading means hard water, not dangerous water, and a low reading does not mean safe. A TDS meter cannot detect lead, PFAS, nitrate or bacteria: lead at ten times the UK limit would not move the display. What it is genuinely good for is checking a filter is working, by comparing the reading before and after, which is why the ZeroWater jug ships with one. Treat it as a filter gauge, not a safety test.
You fill sample bottles from your tap following the lab's instructions, post them, and receive a figure with a stated uncertainty for each parameter. This is the same kind of analysis the water companies and the regulator rely on, and it is the only home route to PFAS, microplastics, a bacteria count you can trust, or a lead figure you can compare with the limit. Look for a laboratory accredited by UKAS for drinking water analysis, choose the parameter list to match your actual worry rather than buying the longest one, and expect to pay many times the price of a strip kit, with prices varying by lab and by what you ask for. We no longer list a specific lab kit: the one we used to recommend is not sold in the UK.
The lead case in full, including how to tell whether your supply pipe is lead, is in lead pipes in UK homes. Sampling technique matters more than the kit: for lead, take the first water out of the cold kitchen tap in the morning, before anything has run; for everything else, run the tap for a minute first.
A result means nothing without the limit next to it. These are the standards from the Water Supply (Water Quality) Regulations that a home test is likely to touch. If a strip band straddles a limit, that is a reason to get a lab figure, not a result in itself.
| Parameter | UK limit | What it usually means |
|---|---|---|
| Lead | 10 µg/L | From your own pipes, not the mains. Sample first thing in the morning. |
| Nitrate | 50 mg/L | Higher in arable areas; matters most for babies. |
| Copper | 2 mg/L | New copper pipework; a metallic taste is the clue. |
| Iron | 200 µg/L | Brown water and staining, usually from old mains. |
| Fluoride | 1.5 mg/L | Added in parts of the West Midlands and North East. |
| pH | 6.5 to 9.5 | Below 6.5 corrodes pipes and pulls metals into the water. |
| PFAS (individual) | 0.1 µg/L guideline | DWI guideline value; only a lab can measure it. |
| Hardness | No limit | Not a health issue. Over 200 mg/L is where a softener pays. |
| Chlorine | No numeric UK limit | Always present; a filter removes the taste. |
Each linked contaminant page shows the limit alongside the readings reported in your area, so you can see whether a home result is out of line with the zone or typical of it.
Both are strip kits, and both do the same job: a two-minute screen of your own tap for a few pounds. One is cheaper and tests one more parameter; the other gives you enough strips to test every month for years and adds a bacteria test.
Quick screen: 17 parameters in two minutes, the cheapest way to check your own tap
SimplexHealth 17-in-1 Water Test Kit
Testing Kit
Typical price
£13approx.
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Repeat testing: 150 strips, with a bacteria test for private supplies
SJ WAVE 16-in-1 Premium Water Test
Testing Kit
Typical price
£15approx.
Affiliate link: we may earn a commission at no extra cost to you.
SimplexHealth 17-in-1 Water Test Kit
Typical price
£13approx.
The cheapest, fastest way to check your own tap, as long as you treat the result as a screen.
At around £13, the SimplexHealth 17-in-1 is where most people should start if they want to test at all. It covers 17 parameters, including lead, pH and hardness, and gives you colour-match results in about two minutes with no posting and no waiting. It is accurate enough to flag the obvious: water that is very hard, a pH that is off, a lot of chlorine, or a lead pad that changes colour when it should not. What it cannot do is give you a number. Colour matching is subjective, especially in poor light, so a result is a band rather than a figure, and SimplexHealth are clear that it does not test for PFAS or microplastics. If the strip flags something, that is your cue for a lab test or a call to the water company, not a filter purchase.
Tests for
Pros
Cons
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SJ WAVE 16-in-1 Premium Water Test
Typical price
£15approx.
150 strips and a bacteria test make this the kit for private supplies and monthly checks.
The SJ WAVE 16-in-1 tests one fewer parameter than the SimplexHealth but comes with 150 strips, which at around £15 is enough for monthly testing for years. That changes what it is for: rather than a one-off screen, it suits anyone who wants to watch their water over time, which mostly means private supplies and people who have just fitted a filter or softener and want to see it holding up. It tests bacteria, lead, iron and copper among others, and the colour chart is printed on the bottle so it does not go missing. The bacteria test needs a 48-hour incubation and is the least precise pad in the kit, and like every strip there is no digital readout, only your eye against a chart. SJ WAVE say it cannot detect PFAS or pharmaceutical residues. For a borehole owner or a monthly habit, it is the better buy of the two.
Tests for
Pros
Cons
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Start with your postcode. For most UK homes the water company's data is the test, and it is free. If you want to check your own tap once, the SimplexHealth 17-in-1 at around £13 is the screen to buy. If you are on a private supply or want to test every month, the SJ WAVE 16-in-1 with its 150 strips and bacteria test is the one.
If you need a number rather than a colour, for lead in an old house, PFAS, or a private supply, no kit on Amazon will give you one. Ask your water company for a free lead test if that is the worry, and otherwise use a UKAS-accredited laboratory. Skip TDS meters as a safety test; keep one only to check a filter is working.
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For most UK homes on a mains supply, the best first test is free: your water company's compliance data for your supply zone, which we hold for 2,800 postcode districts. If you then want to check your own tap, the SimplexHealth 17-in-1 strips at around £13 screen hardness, pH, chlorine, lead and more in two minutes, and the SJ WAVE 16-in-1 at around £15 gives you 150 strips for repeat testing. Neither detects PFAS or microplastics. If you need a number you can act on, for lead in an old house, a private supply, or after plumbing work, a UKAS-accredited laboratory test is the only home test that gives one.
Strips are a screen, a lab is a measurement. A strip gives you a colour that you match to a chart, so the result is a band, such as 'lead between 0 and 15 parts per billion', and it depends on your eye and your lighting. That is enough to spot high hardness, odd pH or a lot of chlorine. A laboratory test gives you a figure with a stated uncertainty for each parameter, run to the same standards the regulator uses, and it is the only route to PFAS, microplastics or a reliable lead figure. Screen with strips if you are curious; go straight to a lab if you have a specific reason to worry.
Strips can flag it but not measure it well. Both kits here include a lead pad, and a strong colour change tells you to investigate, but the UK limit for lead is 10 micrograms per litre and strip bands are too coarse to tell you whether you are under or over it. If your home was built before 1970 and the supply pipe has never been replaced, ask your water company first: most will test for lead free of charge because it is their compliance problem too. Otherwise a UKAS-accredited lab test on a first-draw morning sample is the test that answers the question.
No. A TDS meter measures total dissolved solids by how well the water conducts electricity, which mostly reflects the calcium, magnesium and other harmless minerals that make water hard. It cannot see lead, PFAS, nitrate, bacteria or pesticides, and a reading of 50 can be less safe than a reading of 400. What a TDS meter is good for is checking a filter is working, which is why the ZeroWater jug ships with one, and getting a rough sense of hardness. It is not a safety test.
Two ways. First, enter your postcode on TapWater.uk: we show the readings your water company reports for your supply zone, including hardness, chlorine, lead, nitrate and PFAS where it has been tested, against the UK limits. Second, contact your water company. Every UK supplier publishes a water quality report by postcode, and if you suspect lead pipes most will send someone to sample your tap for free. Buying a kit makes sense when you want to check your own pipework, not the mains, or you are on a private supply.
Four situations. You are on a private well, spring or borehole, where nobody tests the water for you and bacteria, nitrate and metals are your responsibility; annual testing is the norm. Your house predates 1970 and still has its original supply pipe, and you want a lead figure rather than a colour band. You have just had plumbing or building work and want to confirm nothing has leached into the water. Or you are about to spend several hundred pounds on a reverse osmosis system to remove something specific, and a test costing a fraction of that would tell you whether you need to. Use a laboratory accredited by UKAS for drinking water analysis.
For a mains supply: hardness, because it decides whether you need a softener; pH, because very low pH corrodes pipes; chlorine, because it is always there and drives taste; lead, if the house is old; and nitrate, if you are in a farming area. Both strip kits here cover those. Add bacteria if you are on a private supply, and PFAS only if your postcode data shows detections, because only a lab can test for it. Testing for everything is a waste of money; the postcode data tells you which few things are worth checking at your own tap.
UK drinking water standards are set in the Water Supply (Water Quality) Regulations. The ones a home test touches are lead at 10 micrograms per litre, nitrate at 50 milligrams per litre, copper at 2 milligrams per litre, iron at 200 micrograms per litre, fluoride at 1.5 milligrams per litre and pH between 6.5 and 9.5. Hardness has no limit because it is not a health issue, and chlorine has no numeric UK limit. For PFAS, the Drinking Water Inspectorate uses a guideline of 0.1 micrograms per litre for individual compounds. Compare your figure to the limit, and if a strip band straddles the limit, treat it as a reason to get a lab test rather than a result. Each contaminant page on TapWater.uk shows the limit and the readings in your area.