How to use this tool

Check your symptoms above — every smell, stain, and taste you've noticed.
Order the tests from a certified lab (your state health department's site lists them; a basic panel plus the specific tests here usually runs $30–$150).
Run your results through our Water Test Interpreter — it gives you the plain-English verdict on every parameter, with EPA-sourced thresholds.
Treat what the tests find — not what the symptoms suggest. The symptom was the messenger.

Honest limits

Symptoms overlap. Metallic taste could be iron, manganese, zinc, or copper — that's why the tool orders a panel, not a single test. The lab breaks the tie.
Some serious problems have no symptoms. Arsenic, nitrate, and lead are tasteless and odorless. If you've never tested, a full baseline panel matters more than any symptom check — see what to test for.
Hot-water-only smells are usually the heater, not the well. A rotten-egg smell from hot taps only is the classic anode-rod reaction — check that before you blame the aquifer.
This doesn't replace a pro. Persistent problems, treatment equipment decisions, and anything involving the well itself deserve a licensed well contractor or water treatment professional.

Frequently asked questions

My water smells like rotten eggs only sometimes. Why?

Hydrogen sulfide comes and goes with water use patterns, temperature, and bacterial activity in the well. Intermittent smell is still worth testing — order sulfate and hydrogen sulfide, and note whether it's hot-water-only (anode rod) or everywhere (the well).

Can I just install a filter for the symptom and skip testing?

You can, and many people do — but you're guessing at the dose. An iron filter sized for 0.5 mg/L won't touch 5 mg/L, and you'll never know you have a second problem (like manganese riding along) until the stains come back. The test costs less than the wrong filter.

The tool flagged my symptom as urgent. What do I do right now?

Stop drinking it — switch to bottled water for drinking and cooking. Order the listed tests immediately (tell the lab it's urgent). For flooding-related changes, disinfect the well after water recedes and retest. Your state health department's well program page has the local procedure.

Why doesn't the tool just tell me what treatment to buy?

Because the honest sequence is symptom → test → treat. Treatment without test results is how people buy a $2,000 system for a $200 problem — or miss the real problem entirely. We'd rather sell you a $50 lab test than a filter.

New to well water? Start with the well water hub.