Dealer FAQ
Answers for water treatment pros
The real questions installers ask on the first call — pricing, accuracy, validation, and how to sell it. Want the pitch and pilot terms? See the installer page, or read the method and limitations.
Pricing & Ordering
When is it available?
Now. You can order on the website today, or email us for dealer/volume terms and we'll set you up.
How much does it cost?
$50 for the kit, which includes 2 complete tests. Additional tests are $7 each (a $28 four-pack of staining consumables). For reference, the comparable lab test runs ~$800. Dealers running real in-home call volume can email us for pilot/volume pricing.
Is it $50 for the kit and then $7 per test (per dye packet)?
Exactly. One-time $50 for the kit hardware (it ships with 2 tests included), then $7 per additional test for the consumable — the staining vial + filter you use up on each sample.
How many tests/samples are included in the basic kit?
Two. The $50 kit includes everything to run 2 complete tests; refills are $7/test after that.
Does the kit include the UV light, or do I need to provide it?
Included — you don't provide anything. The kit ships with a blue LED light (it works like a UV light) that makes the stained microplastics glow on the filter. Everything you need is in the box.
Accuracy, Validation & the Science
How accurate is it?
It's a screening test, and we're straight about what that means: it reliably counts and sizes microplastic particles (roughly 10 µm and larger) using Nile Red fluorescence. It does not identify the specific polymer — that's the $200K-instrument FTIR/Raman lab job. For an in-home sales conversation, a visible particle count on the customer's own water is exactly what you need; for a regulatory determination, it isn't, and we won't pretend otherwise.
Do you have lab tests, third-party validation, or certifications for accuracy?
The method is peer-reviewed and published (Leonard et al., Journal of Hazardous Materials Letters, 2022) and has been used in research labs for years. The kit itself has not yet been independently accredited — we'd rather tell you that than overclaim. Our positioning is simple: don't trust us, trust the research. The process isn't new; we just packaged a peer-reviewed lab method into a form factor you can run on a kitchen table. Point customers to our methodology and limitations pages — they're public and unvarnished.
How long has the system been out?
The detection method (Nile Red staining + fluorescence counting) has been used in published research for years. What's new is the in-home form factor — we productized the lab method so a dealer or homeowner can run it in ~15 minutes. The Water Test is an early-stage company; we're transparent that we're a small team running a tight rollout.
Can I give my customer a PPM number?
No — and it would actually undersell the result. PPM measures dissolved substances by mass (1 PPM = 1 mg/L), which is what a TDS meter reads. Microplastics are particulate — suspended, not dissolved — so they don't show up on a PPM/TDS basis at all. Even if you converted the particle count to a mass concentration, microplastics in drinking water land in the parts-per-billion range or lower, so as 'PPM' it reads like zero. Report what the test actually measures: particle count and size per 100 mL. That's the standard unit in the microplastics literature, and it's the honest one.
What does it detect, and what can't it?
It detects and counts microplastic particles roughly 10 µm and larger. It does not detect nanoplastics (sub-micron — no home kit does; that needs electron microscopy or py-GC/MS), and it doesn't ID the exact plastic type. Treat the count as a screening number, not a lab-grade polymer analysis.
Do you test for anything other than microplastics?
Right now, microplastics only — count and size. We're focused on doing one thing well rather than being another all-in-one strip. If a customer needs metals, PFAS, or a full panel, that's a different (lab) test.
Selling It on the Call
Have you tested it against refrigerator filters? How do fridge filters perform?
Most refrigerator and pitcher filters are designed for taste, chlorine, and odor — not sub-visible particle removal — so they generally don't take out microplastics. The proof move on a call is a before/after: run the tap, run the fridge-filtered water, and show the customer the difference glowing on the filter. We're testing and publishing fridge-filter results so you have third-party data (from us, not you) to hand customers as collateral. Run the test on your own fridge filter and send us the result — it helps build the dataset.
Are you finding more microplastics in tap water or bottled water?
We don't have enough samples yet to claim one over the other from our own data. But peer-reviewed research points to bottled water being worse — a Columbia 2024 study found ~240,000 plastic particles per liter in bottled water, ~90% of them nanoplastics (see the NIH summary: nih.gov/news-events/nih-research-matters/plastic-particles-bottled-water). The honest line on a call: very likely more plastic in plastic bottled water.
About Us
What's the name of your company, and where are you based?
The Water Test, based in Los Angeles, California. Reach us at hello@thewatertest.com.
What's the pitch in one sentence?
A peer-reviewed lab method for counting microplastics, packaged so you can run it in 15 minutes on a customer's own tap water and let them see the result with their own eyes — the proof moment a TDS meter or chlorine strip can't give you.