• If you get your water from your own private well or small group scheme, it is your own responsibility to ensure that it is safe to drink. No one else will alert you to the fact that it could be contaminated with chemicals. Nor will you get a boil notice from Irish Water if bugs have entered you water supply, as a result of run off from animal slurry, septic tanks or other sources.
• The EPA recommends that you get your private well or small private group scheme drinking water tested  in an INAB accredited laboratory once every year  for microbial contamination and once every three years for chemical contamination.
• If your private well or group scheme supplies more than 50 people or a commercial business (such as a creche, hotel, restaurant or care home) you are LEGALLY REQUIRED to have you water supply tested twice a year for microbial contamination.

• Our microbial water analysis test package will tell if you water is contaminated by microorganisms (bugs), which can cause frequent stomach upsets, especially to children, the elderly, those with a weakened immune system or visitors to your home, who may not be used to drinking the water.
• The EPA estimates that between 15% and 30% of household wells are contaminated with a bacterium (bug) known as Escherichia coli (usually shortened to E. coli).
• This bug can enter your well or private water supply as a result of cattle grazing nearby, run-off from slurry being spread on nearby land or runoff from a nearby septic tank that has been badly sited or is in some way defective.

• Our chemicals test package will provide you with information such as whether part of your plumbing system may still contain lead (only a risk in pre-1970s properties) or whether your drinking water may contain elevated levels of nitrite/nitrate, which can be harmful especially to bottle-fed infants
• It will explain why you might be having issues such as staining of sanitary ware. Blue/green is usually attributable to copper, while red/brown staining normally occurs as a result of elevated iron or manganese levels.
•  It will put a value or the hardness or otherwise of your water – or, at the other end of the scale, its acidity – and potential to corrode your pipes and hot water tank.

• T.E. Laboratories (TelLab)  specialises in water analysis/testing services. To ensure our independence and credibility, we don’t sell treatment technologies. However, we have put together a guide outlining some the treatments available if your test reveals that you water quality  falls short of Irish drinking water standards.

• If your water analysis test indicates that the quality of drinking water from your well or small private group doesn’t meet Irish Drinking Water Standards, you may be eligible for a grant from your local authority to carry out improvement works to your water supply system – provided you meet certain eligibility criteria.

• • Order a Test Kit from the Tellab Shop, simply call us on 059 91 52881, or drop by our offices for your test kit.
  • When you are ready, fill the bottles, complete the form and return to TelLab (within six hours for microbial testing). Samples must be returned to our office Monday – Thursday (cannot be returned by post).
  • Pay onsite is via credit card only.
  • Sample results will be issued approximately within 12 working days. Reports are issued in electronic format. (Where results are required urgently, we can provide faster turnaround times, subject to a surcharge.)

Order Test Kit form TelLab Shop

Suite A: Microbial Testing   €60.00   >>

Suite B: Chemical Suite  €175.00 >>

Suite C: Microbial & Chemical Suite  €210.00 >>

Suite D: Microbial including Entercocci & Chemical Suite (Wicklow County council only)  €260.00 >>

Suite E: Microbial & Chemical Suite €210 incl. VAT (Kildare County council only)  €210.00 >>