Instinctively, it is often the slightly different taste of your drinking water that you are likely to notice, rather than its appearance. It is rare for drinking water to become contaminated, but it does happen. There are companies that provide water management services and they will check the quality of your water, report back and make recommendations.
Testing Water Quality
The water management services company will be able to test the quality of your water and their findings will show whether there are excessive minerals in your supply. They may also report that you have aggressive water. Both are important for the infrastructure of your water system and the quality of your drinking water. The report will show whether the water will affect the drinking standards and whether the water is likely to damage your water meters.
In some areas across the US, water softeners will be required to ensure that the hard water is reduced, otherwise the drinking standards will suffer and your clothes will be ruined in the washing machine.
Chlorination systems keep your drinking water to an acceptable standard, while maintaining a level of chlorination that is good for body by eradicating some bacteria.
Bacteria Test
You can ask for a bacteria test to be completed. The water management services will check for the presence or absence of coliform, an indicator bacteria which suggests that the water supply should be monitored. This may lead experts to further testing to find out if other infectious diseases are building within the water. When coliform is found, the professionals will test further for E. coli bacteria, a known pathogen and dangerous to humans and animals.
There are a wide range of tests that can check for iron, lead, copper, turbidity and the pH levels. Old plumbing might show a level of corrosion within the water and this will require removal and updating of your plumbing system.
Finally, where your water systems are found through deep wells, you might conduct a pesticide check to see how much of a chemical sprayed above ground is reaching the water below ground.