City / Mains Water Test Kits
NATA-accredited laboratory analysis of your treated municipal water, benchmarked against Australian and International Drinking Water Guidelines. Australia Wide.
What We Screen For
Treatment reduces risk — it doesn't eliminate it. What comes out of your tap depends on your catchment, your pipes, and what your utility actually tests for.
Three testing levels to match your concerns
| 07 Mineral Balance & Water Chemistry | |||
| 14 physical & chemical parameterspH, TDS, Hardness, Total Alkalinity, Conductivity, Calcium, Magnesium, Sodium, Potassium, Chloride, Sulphate + Bicarbonate, Carbonate, Hydroxide Alkalinity | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| FluorideDental health — ADWG guideline 1.5 mg/L | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| 06 Nutrients & Catchment Health | |||
| Nitrate & AmmoniaAgricultural runoff and catchment contamination indicators | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| NitriteRelevant for chloraminated distribution systems — used by most major Australian utilities including Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, and Perth | ✕ | ✓ | ✓ |
| 01 Heavy Metals & Pipe Corrosion | |||
| 21 metals & metalloidsLead, Copper, Arsenic, Nickel, Zinc, Iron, Aluminium, Mercury, Cadmium, Chromium, Manganese, Selenium, Barium, Antimony, Cobalt, Molybdenum, Boron, Tin, Vanadium, Beryllium, Silver | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| 03 Disinfection By-Products | |||
| Trihalomethanes — Chloroform, Bromoform, Bromodichloromethane, Total THMsFormed when chlorine reacts with organic matter during treatment — levels vary seasonally | ✕ | ✓ | ✓ |
| 04 Plumbing Solvents & Glues | |||
| Vinyl Chloride, Styrene & PVC pipe residuesSolvent cement and pipe adhesive residuals — can leach for months after renovation or new construction | ✕ | ✓ | ✓ |
| FormaldehydePipe cement residual and chlorine by-product — common in newly installed plumbing | ✕ | ✓ | ✓ |
| 05 Industrial & Fuel Solvents | |||
| BTEX — Benzene, Toluene, Ethylbenzene, XylenesPetrol station and industrial contamination — of particular concern in older urban and industrial suburbs | ✕ | ✓ | ✓ |
| TCE, PCE & chlorinated solventsTrichloroethylene and Tetrachloroethylene from dry cleaners and historical industrial activity — migrate through groundwater over decades | ✕ | ✓ | ✓ |
| 44 further volatile organic compoundsFull 53-compound VOC panel includes Naphthalene, Carbon Tetrachloride, 1,2-Dichloroethane, Dichloromethane and 40 others at trace detection level | ✕ | ✓ | ✓ |
| 02 PFAS — "Forever Chemicals" | |||
| 30 PFAS compounds at trace detection levelPFOS, PFOA, PFHxS, PFNA + 26 precursors — detection at 0.001–0.005 µg/L, below the tightened ADWG 2025 limits | ✕ | ✕ | ✓ |
| Detection Level | |||
| Trace-level detection for VOCs & PFASReporting limits set below ADWG guideline values — required for a meaningful clean result. Without trace-level detection, a "not detected" result may still mean an exceedance. | ✕ | ✓ | ✓ |
| What's Included | |||
| Complete sampling kit delivered to your door | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Pre-paid express return shipping | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| NATA-accredited laboratory analysis | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Colour-coded PDF report benchmarked against ADWG | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Plain-language exceedance explanations | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Total parameters tested | ~38 | ~92 | ~122 |
Metals, minerals, nutrients, and microbiology — the core safety screen.
Everything in Essentials, plus VOCs, disinfection by-products, and trace-level detection.
Everything in Advanced, plus a 30-compound PFAS screen at trace level.
Every contaminant class in a single kit — metals, VOCs, PFAS, pesticides, herbicides, PAHs, microbiology, nutrients, and disinfection by-products. Trace-level detection throughout. Works on any water source.
Lead, copper, arsenic, mercury, chromium and 16 more — standalone screen for plumbing corrosion and geological contaminants.
PFOS, PFOA, PFHxS + 27 precursors at trace detection (0.001–0.005 µg/L). Benchmarked against ADWG 2025 guideline limits.
PE, PP, PS, PVC, PET, PC, PMMA, PA particle counts in potable water. No ADWG guideline currently exists — provided for information.
All analysis performed by NATA-accredited laboratories under ISO/IEC 17025:2017 · All prices including GST · Return shipping included
How It Works
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Step 1 - Select and purchase your test
We mail you a testing kit complete with laboratory testing bottles and step by instruction of how to collect your sample.
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Step 2 - Collect a water sample
Fill the supplied laboratory testing bottles with a sample of your drinking water. Place the bottles in the supplied postage parcel complete with pre-paid express shipping return label and place in post.
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Step 3 - Laboratory Testing
Your water sample will be sent to a NATA accredited Australian laboratory for testing. Our laboratory partners typically complete the analysis within 5 business days.
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Step 4 - Receive your results
Your detailed Water Quality Analysis Report is delivered as a digital PDF — plain-English results benchmarked against Australian drinking water guidelines, with the original NATA-accredited Certificate of Analysis included.
Your Report
The Clarity you need. Zero guesswork.
Every kit includes a Water Quality Analysis Report delivered as a digital PDF. Each report includes:
Results Summary — Colour-coded report card with pass/fail by contaminant category and next steps if you have an exceedance. Know where you stand in 60 seconds.
Detailed Results — All your results, compared against national and international drinking water safety limits.
Certificate — The original NATA-accredited Certificate of Analysis from the laboratory. Your official record.
The same laboratories trusted by Australian councils, water utilities, and environmental regulators.
Professional-grade analysis, delivered to your door.
City Water - Common Questions
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Possibly. While lead pipes were phased out in new construction from the 1980s, brass fixtures and fittings used well into the 1990s and 2000s can contain significant lead. Additionally, if your suburb has older mains infrastructure, lead can still enter the supply before it reaches your property.
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The Australian residential water filter market operates without mandatory product certification or independent performance verification. Manufacturers are not required to substantiate contaminant removal claims before bringing a product to market — meaning the performance figures on the packaging are largely self-reported. A NATA-accredited laboratory baseline provides the only objective, scientifically defensible audit of whether your filtration system is performing as claimed, or creating a false sense of security.
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It is incredibly simple. When your kit arrives, it includes step-by-step instructions. You simply fill the provided bottles from your tap, write the date on the included form, and place everything into the pre-paid express return mailer. Drop it at any Australia Post Express Post collection point, and you are done.
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Utilities test at the treatment plant and at selected points in the distribution network — not at your tap. The water that reaches your kitchen has travelled through kilometres of distribution mains and your own internal plumbing. Metals can leach from pipes and fittings, and disinfection by-product concentrations typically increase with transit time. This kit tests what actually comes out of your tap.
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Treated municipal water contains a chlorine residual specifically to prevent microbial contamination. This residual makes culture-based E. coli and coliform tests unreliable at the tap — you're more likely to get a false result than a meaningful one. If your water has lost its chlorine residual (which would indicate a distribution problem), you'd typically notice it by taste or odour before a test kit arrives. Our bore and tank kits include microbiology because those sources have no disinfection residual.
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City Essentials covers the core health parameters — metals, minerals, and water chemistry. City Complete adds disinfection by-products and a full volatile organic compound screen for a comprehensive chemical profile. City Advanced adds PFAS screening. If you want everything in a single kit, the Complete Water Audit covers 214 parameters across every contaminant class. Email us at info@safewaterlab.com.au with your suburb and we'll recommend a kit.
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Our laboratory partner completes analysis within 5 business days of receiving your sample. Your report is typically delivered by email 1–2 business days after that. Total time from posting your sample to receiving results is around 7–9 business days depending on postal transit.