Get the lead out.

• Position: What New? - Water testing kits - Brief Article

Concern about the safety of the global water supply for human consumption has grown steadily throughout the last several years. Lakes, rivers, and groundwater have been found to contain unacceptably high amounts of Atrazine and Simazine, pesticides so toxic that the Environmental Protection Agency-mandated maximum level is equivalent to less than one drop in a swimming pool. Lead commonly was used in plumbing pipes and fixtures in homes and other buildings until recently, leaving nearly everyone at risk of exposure, even today. Chronic exposure to lead can cause irreversible neurological, developmental and systemic damage, especially in young children.

That's the bad news. The good news is that the Watersafe do-it-yourself tests from Silver Lake Research, Monrovia, Calif., include kits for lead, pesticides, chlorine and hardness, plus pH, and nitrates/nitrites. Previously, the only reliable way to ascertain if contaminants were in...