Go online or to a hardware store and grab a home water test kit. They cost about the price of a pizza. You get a few little bottles and a color chart. It’s basically a grown-up coloring book for science geeks.
Water Quality Matters: How to Improve the Taste of Your Coffee - %sitename
You dip a strip in a glass of water. It changes color. You match the color to the chart. Boom. You just tested for hardness, chlorine, pH, and nitrates. It’s satisfyingly simple.
What the colors actually tell you.
A high pH means your water is alkaline. That’s why some people buy fancy machines for it. A low pH might mean your pipes are slowly dissolving. Not great.
Hard water? That’s the stuff that leaves white spots on your dishes. It’s not dangerous, but it’s annoying. Soft water feels slicker and makes soap suds up like crazy. You’ll suddenly understand why your skin feels different in a hotel.
