You should! But if you are still not convinced, you may be after reading this. Our lab staff tests your drinking water all day every day, from locations all over Mecklenburg County and beyond to ensure that when water leaves the drinking water treatment plants, it’s still the same quality when it arrives at your home or business.

That is not all, your water is tested for 23 different types of metals. AND each sample has to be prepared and meet specific conditions before it can be tested.

This is not like CSI where you slap the sample down onto a microscope and wallah the answer is provided right there and you are arresting the perp before the hour ends.

This is all in a day’s work for the Metals Lab Section at Charlotte Water. The team of analysts monitors our distribution and collections system by testing samples from the plants as well as our network of pipes.

They also support the county by accepting samples from surface waters and landfills. “A significant part of our job is keeping up with the latest regulatory requirements,” said lab manager Alan Hilling. “The work we do isn’t like you see on TV. There is much more involved than simply putting a sample into a machine, pressing a button, and getting instant results.”

If we ever do find something that is a concern, we will tell you about it.

Back in August 2015, we noticed a trend and although we did not have a water quality violation, we let you know what was happening and what we were doing about it.

If you ever have any water quality concerns you can call 311, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

Interested in learning more about what is in your water? Check out our annual Water Quality Report.