This content was commissioned and paid for by Reynolds Water Conditioning Co. The news and editorial staff of Planet Detroit had no role in the creation or production of this story.
A practical guide to understanding, testing, and protecting your family’s water
If you’ve ever filled a sippy cup or run a bath and wondered, Is this water actually okay?, you’re not alone, and you’re not being paranoid. For Metro Detroit families, the honest answer is: it depends on your home. This guide won’t tell you whether your water is safe. No guide can. Instead, it gives you five concrete steps to find out for yourself, drawing on water quality experts and Planet Detroit’s independent reporting on lead and PFAS in Michigan water.
The good news: checking is easier (and often cheaper) than you’d think, and there’s a fix for almost everything you might find. You don’t have to do it all this week. Just start with one.
1. Get your water tested
You can’t see, smell, or taste the things that matter most, like lead, arsenic, and PFAS. Testing is how you swap worry for facts, and it’s easier than most parents expect.
Three simple ways to start:
Free in-home test: Reynolds Water Conditioning, Michigan’s oldest water treatment company, offers free, in-home tests that detect things like iron, hardness, and total dissolved solids, or TDS, which is the combined concentration of all minerals, salts, metals and organic matter dissolved in water. Want to go deeper? Their lab tests, available for a fee, can uncover more than 100 contaminants, including lead.
Ask your water utility — it might be free. “Water utilities have to collect so many water samples within their distribution system, and it’s hard for them to identify locations and get people to participate,” McElmurry says. “So, I would call your water utility and say ‘I want my water tested for lead.'” In Detroit, call DWSD at 313-267-8000.
State lab testing. And the state will test your water directly: EGLE’s Drinking Water Laboratory in Lansing analyzes residential samples for a fee — including for lead and some PFAS — with test kits available at 517-335-8184 or through Michigan.gov/TestMyDrinkingWater.
On a well? Nearly 1 in 3 Michigan residents are, and no one tests that water but you. Well water also changes over time. Reynolds Water Conditioning suggests testing on a regular schedule, not just one time. “Even heavy rains can make different things appear,” says Amy Pilarski, president of Reynolds Water.
2. Find out if your home has a lead pipe
If you do just one thing on this list, make it this one.
Lead matters more for kids than anyone else. There’s no safe level of exposure, and lead in early childhood can affect brain development, learning, and attention. It’s also a risk during pregnancy. The biggest factor in whether it’s in your water? The service line — the pipe connecting your home to the water main in the street. In Detroit alone, more than 80,000 homes still have one, most often houses built before 1945.
Check yours today. It takes about five minutes:
- In Detroit: look up your address on DWSD’s online lead service line map.
- Anywhere in Michigan: check your water system’s progress on the Michigan Lead Service Line Tracker, built by Planet Detroit and Safe Water Engineering.
- At home: try the simple “scratch and magnet” test on the pipe where water enters your house.
If you have one, speak up. Shawn McElmurry, a Wayne State engineering professor who has served on Flint’s Water System Advisory Council since 2021, says families can speed up their replacement by asking for it. “Call your water utilities and tell them ‘I want my lead service line replaced,'” he says. “You just have to bang the drum to get this done.”
Replacing the line yourself costs $3,000–$10,000. That’s a chunk of change, McElmurry acknowledges, but worth it for families who can: “It’s going to have lifelong health benefits for not only you, and not only for your kids, but for your kids’ kids.”
For those not able to replace their pipe, Reynolds Water offers customized, in-home filtering solutions that reduce lead exposure.
3. Use a filter that’s certified for the job
The right filtration system can reduce many of the unwanted elements found in drinking water. For Reynolds, all filtration system components are tested or certified by NSF, Underwriters Laboratories, U.S. Food and Drug Administration, and/or Water Quality Association Laboratory.
There are also individual filtration systems on the market, but they are not all created equal. The label to look for is short and specific: NSF/ANSI Standard 53 or 58.
That certification means an independent lab has tested the filter and confirmed it reduces the contaminants listed on its packaging, which can include lead, some PFAS, arsenic, pesticides, and more. Different filters handle different things, so check the package for the ones you care about.
The one rule families forget: replace the filter on the manufacturer’s schedule. An old filter can grow bacteria, the opposite of what you bought it for.
Why PFAS made this list: These “forever chemicals,” which some link to developmental effects in children, have been detected in 59 areas across southeast Michigan, including water supplies, schools, and childcare centers, according to a Planet Detroit analysis. Reverse osmosis systems and certified carbon filters can reduce certain PFAS.
4. Run the tap before you fill the cup
This one is free and takes a minute. It’s a good habit before filling water bottles, mixing formula, or making the morning coffee.
Water that sits in your pipes overnight can pick up lead, copper, and bacteria. Before you use it, let the faucet run for a minute or two. An easy rule of thumb: run the hot water until it actually gets hot. That means the standing water has cleared. Then switch to cold for drinking and cooking.
If you’ve remodeled: capped-off pipes from a removed sink or tub can quietly harbor bacteria. Worth mentioning to your plumber the next time one visits.
5. Know what warrants a closer look
Some water problems are annoying but harmless. Others are invisible and serious. Here’s the quick version:
Annoying but usually harmless (and fixable):
- Hard water: minerals like calcium and magnesium. It can taste off, leave a film on skin, make hair dull and frizzy, and stain laundry. A water softener or the right filtration system fixes it.
- Iron: common in well water. Your body can’t absorb much iron from water, so it’s not a health risk, but it causes metallic tastes and rusty stains on sinks, dishes, and laundry.
Invisible and potentially problematic:
- Arsenic: naturally present in Michigan groundwater. Long-term exposure is linked to serious health problems, including effects on young children’s development. It doesn’t change how water looks, smells, or tastes. Specialized removal systems and reverse osmosis take care of it.
- Lead and PFAS: see steps 1–3. Neither announces itself. Both have real fixes if discovered.
You don’t have to figure this out alone
“There is so much that can be done to address water issues big and small, and it all starts with learning what’s going on in your own home,” says Pilarski. “We’ve helped so many people find water solutions that keep their families comfortable, happy and healthy. It all just starts with taking that first step.”
Take the first step this week: Reynolds Water, Michigan’s oldest water treatment company, has been helping Metro Detroit families get cleaner, better water since 1931. Start with a free in-home test, and they’ll help you find the right fix for your home.