A 6-panel breakdown of what Pristine Water Networks measures during a free 45-minute in-home water test in Summerville, Nexton, Cane Bay, Carnes Crossroads, and Goose Creek. Live readings, kitchen counter, anchored to your utility’s published data.
April 30, 2026 · 6 min read · Jarred Guidelli, Pristine Water Networks
The Pristine Water Networks free in-home water test is a 6-panel, kitchen-counter readout: hardness in grains per gallon, chlorine or chloramine residual, total dissolved solids (TDS), pH, iron and sediment screening, and aesthetic markers (taste, odor, clarity). Each reading is shown live on the meter, then compared on the spot to your specific utility's published Consumer Confidence Report. PFAS context for your utility is also pulled from the EWG Tap Water Database during the visit.
Source: Pristine Water Networks service protocol, 2026
Each panel below is something we measure on your kitchen counter, then anchor to a Lowcountry-specific data point you can verify yourself.
A digital titrator on your kitchen counter measures calcium and magnesium in real time. We compare the reading to Summerville CPW’s published 5.5 to 7.2 gpg range, Charleston Water System’s 3.4 gpg, Mount Pleasant Waterworks’ lime-softened 1.7 gpg, or your specific utility’s annual Consumer Confidence Report. Hardness is the difference between filmy showers, spotted glassware, and scaled-up appliances vs. clean rinses across the same fixtures.
Summerville CPW uses free chlorine. Charleston Water System, Mount Pleasant Waterworks, and Dorchester County Water Authority use chloramine (chlorine combined with ammonia). The two need different filtration media; standard activated carbon strips chlorine fine but is far less effective on chloramine, which requires catalytic carbon with longer contact time. We test for whichever residual is in your tap and tell you which media you’d need.
Conductivity-based readout in mg/L. Tells us how much mineral content is in your water. Useful as a fast flag for well-water sediment in Berkeley and Dorchester counties, post-water-heater scale buildup, and source-water variation. TDS alone does not equal "bad water," it’s a baseline number to anchor every other reading against.
Acid/alkaline balance with a calibrated probe. Acidic water (pH below 6.5) corrodes copper plumbing and produces blue-green stains on fixtures, especially in older Lowcountry homes. Alkaline water above 8.5 can taste flat or bitter. Healthy municipal water typically lands 6.5–8.5; your reading anchors whether the staining or taste you notice has a chemistry explanation.
Critical for the well-water households across Berkeley and Dorchester counties. Iron at 0.3 mg/L starts producing the orange/red staining on porcelain and laundry; hydrogen sulfide produces the rotten-egg odor. Both are removable with the right media (oxidizing filter for iron, catalytic carbon for sulfur), and we’d quote a different system path for a well than for city water.
Sensory pass: taste, smell, visible particulates. The day-to-day water you drink, cook with, and brush teeth with. Aesthetic markers are not about contamination, they’re about whether the water is pleasant to use; a 5.5 gpg, post-chlorine, slightly metallic-tasting tap from Cane Bay tells a different remediation story than a clear, neutral, 3.4 gpg pour from Daniel Island.
The 7th data point
PFAS itself requires lab analysis (it cannot be measured at the kitchen counter). What we do on the visit is pull your specific utility’s public PFAS data from the EWG Tap Water Database and read it to you. Summerville CPW: five PFAS compounds detected, with PFUnA at 1,183 times the EWG health advisory level. CPW has a $96 million remediation project targeting completion between 2029 and 2031. If PFAS is a specific concern for your household, we install the Puronics Pur-Alkaline 6-stage reverse-osmosis system at the kitchen tap (verify the certification scope at info.nsf.org for the model recommended).
See the full PFAS data on our PFAS in Summerville water explainer, or jump straight to the cited Summerville water-quality data hub.
A 6-panel kitchen-counter test: hardness in grains per gallon, chlorine or chloramine residual, total dissolved solids (TDS), pH, iron and sediment screening, and aesthetic markers (taste, odor, clarity). Pristine Water Networks runs each panel live on your kitchen counter in about 20 minutes, compared on the spot to Summerville CPW’s published Consumer Confidence Report.
PFAS itself requires lab analysis and cannot be measured at the kitchen counter in real time. Pristine Water Networks pulls your specific utility’s published PFAS data from the EWG Tap Water Database during the visit. Summerville CPW shows five PFAS compounds detected, with PFUnA at 1,183 times the EWG health advisory level. PFAS reduction at the tap requires an NSF/ANSI 53 certified reverse-osmosis system.
About 45 minutes total: 5 minutes for setup on your kitchen counter, 20 minutes for the 6-panel readout, and 20 minutes walking through results, comparing them to your utility’s published data, and answering questions. No 90-minute sales pitch.
Yes. No cost, no credit card, no purchase obligation. You keep the printed leave-behind sheet whether you buy a system or not. If a Puronics system is recommended, the published price is $7,999 installed, and federal law (16 CFR Part 429) gives you three business days to cancel.
Three things. First, every panel is run live on your kitchen counter; no pre-filled bottles, no black-box lab results. Second, every reading is compared on the spot to Summerville CPW (or your specific utility’s) published Consumer Confidence Report, so the data is anchored to a public source you can verify yourself. Third, the visit takes 45 minutes, not 90; if your water tests fine, the technician will tell you and leave.
See your numbers
45 minutes, your kitchen counter, all six panels live, your utility’s published data on the leave-behind. No pressure.
