It's important to identify the contaminants in your water before buying treatment equipment, since it could mean the difference between paying around $30 for a filter pitcher that takes out just chlorine, copper, lead and mercury -- or up to $6,000 to treat water from a contaminated well.

Is tap water tasty or toxic? We ran two sources through a new, low-price home test kit, then double-checked with a professional lab to see if you can really chem-class your way to aquatic confidence in your own kitchen.

If your water comes from your town's supply, you may want to test for lead and copper. Your water supplier may check for free, otherwise buy an individual test such as Watersafe Lead Test.

Watersafe is a one-step kit that detects unsafe levels of 2 of the most commonly used herbicides, atrazine and simazine. Watersafe is a single use test that requires no instrumentation or training and can be performed anywhere  

With the Watersafe Home Drinking Water test, find out what contaminants are flowing through your pipes...