Moving to a New Home? Here's the Complete Water Quality Checklist to Run First

Before anything else, find out whether you're on a public water system or a private well. If you're in a city, suburb, or most towns, you're almost certainly on a public system. Your first water bill will tell you the name of your utility. If you're in a rural area, check with the previous owner or your real estate agent — you may be on a private well, a shared well with neighbors, or a small rural water district.

Once you know your utility, get the most recent Consumer Confidence Report. Search for your utility's name plus "Consumer Confidence Report" or "Annual Water Quality Report." Most utilities post them on their websites. Alternatively, use the EPA's CCR search at epa.gov/ccr.

Read through the CCR with the following specific questions in mind:

Has the system had any health-based violations in the past three years? Look for "yes" entries in the violation column, or any notice about violations in the narrative text. Lead levels — what was the 90th percentile lead result, and how does it compare to the EPA action level of 15 ppb? TTHM and HAA5 levels — are they near or above the MCLs of 80 and 60 µg/L respectively? Arsenic — is it detected, and at what level? Nitrates — particularly relevant if you have or plan to have children.

The CCR gives you the system-wide picture. What it doesn't tell you is the situation specific to your property — which is where the next steps come in.

Lead doesn't typically come from the water source — it comes from the plumbing. Your new home's specific lead situation depends on the age and material of the service line connecting your house to the water main, and the age and type of plumbing inside the house.

Service line material. Contact your water utility and ask whether your specific address has a lead service line. The EPA's 2021 Lead and Copper Rule Revisions require utilities to maintain service line inventories, and this information should be available. Some utilities post searchable service line maps online. A lead service line is a primary risk factor regardless of how well the utility treats the water.

Interior plumbing age and type. Homes built before 1986 may have lead solder connecting copper pipes. Homes built before 1930 may have lead pipes for interior plumbing in some regions. Ask about the home's plumbing history, particularly if it's an older property. If you can see exposed plumbing in the basement or utility room, you can do a quick check: lead pipes are dull gray, relatively soft (you can scratch them with a key), and won't attract a magnet. Copper is orange-brown and harder. Galvanized steel is silver-gray and magnetic.

Brass fixtures. Even newer homes may have brass faucets, valves, or fittings that contain lead. Pre-2014 brass fixtures could contain up to 8% lead by weight. Post-2014 "lead-free" fixtures (following tighter federal standards) contain no more than 0.25% lead. If the home has older fixtures that haven't been replaced, they're worth noting.

The bottom line on lead and new homes: regardless of what you learn from the utility or from visual inspection, I'd recommend running a tap lead test in the first weeks in a new home, especially if the home is more than 30 years old. The test is inexpensive and gives you actual data about what's in the water at your specific tap.

Many homes come with water treatment equipment installed by previous owners — softeners, filtration systems, reverse osmosis units under the kitchen sink. These can be assets or liabilities depending on their condition and maintenance history.

Water softener. If there's a water softener, find out when the resin was last replaced (typically every 10–15 years), when the salt was last added, and whether the system has been serviced recently. A softener running on depleted resin or without proper salt level isn't softening the water effectively. Also check what kind of salt is being used and when the tank was last cleaned. A neglected softener can introduce bacteria.

Reverse osmosis system. Under-sink RO systems need regular filter and membrane replacement. A unit with expired filters may not be removing contaminants effectively, and an old membrane can harbor bacteria. Find out when filters were last changed and plan to replace them immediately if the history is unknown. Most RO filters need changing every 6–12 months; membranes last 2–3 years.

Whole-house filters. Check the filter housing for a date sticker or label. If there's a whole-house sediment or carbon filter with no recent service record, change the cartridge immediately. Running an overloaded filter is counterproductive.

Iron filters, UV systems, or specialty treatment. Some homes in rural or well-water areas have iron removal systems, UV disinfection, or other specialty treatment installed. Each of these requires regular maintenance. If the previous owner hasn't maintained them, they may not be working as intended.

The general rule: if you can't verify the maintenance history of any water treatment equipment, service it or replace the media before relying on it. A letter from the previous owner confirming service history is ideal; otherwise, a fresh start is the safe choice.

If your new home has a private well, water testing before or immediately after moving in isn't just recommended — it's essential. The Safe Drinking Water Act doesn't apply to private wells. There is no regulatory oversight, no required testing schedule, no utility responsible for ensuring the water is safe. You are entirely responsible.

At minimum, before you drink the water from a private well in a home you've just moved into, test for:

Total coliform bacteria and E. coli. This is the most critical test. Bacterial contamination in well water can cause acute illness, and the consequences — particularly for children, elderly residents, or immunocompromised individuals — can be severe. A basic coliform test costs $20–$50 and provides results within a few days from most state-certified laboratories.

Nitrates. Particularly important if you're in an agricultural area or if there are septic systems nearby. Results within a few days, typically $15–$30.

Lead. Well casings and pump components can contribute lead. Test from the first draw (without flushing) for the most relevant result.

pH. Very acidic water (low pH) accelerates corrosion of pipes and plumbing, leaching metals including lead and copper.

Arsenic. If you're in a high-arsenic region (the West, New England, upper Midwest), include arsenic in your initial panel.

Many state health departments offer package testing for private wells that covers several of these parameters at a reduced cost. Contact your local health department to find out what's available in your area.

Also, ask the previous owner or your real estate agent for any historical water test results. Some states require water testing disclosure for well properties as part of real estate transactions. Even if no results were required, the previous owner may have tested previously and have results on hand.

Even if you're on a public water system with excellent overall performance, the specific lead situation at your address depends on your property's plumbing. I recommend everyone moving into a home built before 1990 run a tap lead test within the first month of occupying the home.

Here's how to get the most useful results: order a test kit from a state-certified laboratory (many are available online for $20–$35). For a first-draw sample — the most relevant test for lead from plumbing — you collect water from the tap you use most for drinking (typically the kitchen faucet) after the water has sat in the pipes for at least six hours without any use. First thing in the morning is ideal.

The first-draw sample captures the water that's been sitting in direct contact with your interior plumbing, including any lead service line section and soldered joints. If this sample shows elevated lead, the lead is coming from your specific property's plumbing.

Some testing protocols recommend a second "flushed" sample — collected after running the tap for 30 seconds — which tests for lead from the utility's distribution system rather than your interior plumbing. Both results together give you a complete picture.

If either sample shows lead above 5 ppb, I'd recommend the following: use an NSF/ANSI 53 or 58 certified filter for all drinking and cooking water, don't give unfiltered water to children or pregnant women, and contact your utility to discuss whether your service line material is known and whether lead service line replacement is available.

Your household's water quality doesn't exist in isolation. If there are known contamination sources near your new home — industrial facilities, Superfund sites, former agricultural land, military bases — they may affect your water now or in the future.

The EPA's ECHO (Enforcement and Compliance History Online) database at echo.epa.gov lets you search for regulated facilities near any address. You can find permitted industrial facilities, what they're permitted to discharge, and their compliance history.

The EPA's Superfund site database (epa.gov/superfund) identifies contaminated sites that are under federal cleanup orders. Being near a Superfund site doesn't automatically mean your water is contaminated — it depends on groundwater flow direction, proximity, and whether the site affects your water source — but it's worth knowing.

For military bases specifically: if your new home is within a few miles of an active or former military installation, PFAS contamination from historical AFFF firefighting foam use is a realistic concern. Check whether the base has known PFAS contamination (the Environmental Working Group maintains a database at ewg.org/pfaschemicals/map) and whether this has affected local water supplies.

State environmental agency websites typically have groundwater contamination databases, leaking underground storage tank (LUST) registries, and other records of known contamination events. Most are searchable by county or address.

None of this is a reason for alarm — the vast majority of residential locations have no significant nearby contamination. But it takes 30 minutes to check, and if there is a known issue in your area, it's better to know about it.

Once you've completed the initial assessment, establish a sustainable routine for ongoing water quality monitoring and maintenance.

If you're on a public water system with clean results and no particular risk factors, the minimal routine is: review the annual Consumer Confidence Report when it arrives each summer, change any under-sink or pitcher filters on schedule, and repeat the tap lead test if you do any plumbing work or notice changes in water quality.

If you have a private well, annual testing for bacteria and nitrates is the baseline. Every three to five years, test for a broader panel of contaminants, and test after any event that could affect water quality — heavy flooding, construction activity nearby, changes in taste or smell.

If you have water treatment equipment (softener, RO, whole-house filter), set calendar reminders for filter changes and service intervals. The exact schedules depend on the equipment, but a general rule is: pitcher and under-sink carbon filters every 3–6 months, RO filters annually, RO membranes every 2–3 years, water softener salt checks monthly, water softener resin every 10–15 years.

Finally: keep records. Store your water test results, CCR copies, filter change dates, and maintenance records in a folder — physical or digital. When you eventually sell the home, this documentation is valuable to future buyers and demonstrates responsible stewardship.