Assessing Water Quality: Measuring Contaminants in KC, MO & Overland Park, KS

Water quality is assessed by identifying contaminants present in water and determining whether it is safe to drink based on those findings. However, failures in effectively communicating water quality issues have occurred in cities across the U.S., such as the lack of timely warnings about lead exposure in Flint, MI, and Washington, D.C. When water safety concerns go unaddressed, community health is put at risk. To help our local community, we measured metal contaminants in water from multiple sources in the KC metropolitan area. We conducted tests using water quality test strips and analyzed the results against standard curves we created for lead, calcium, copper, iron, and magnesium. Understanding local water quality empowers community members to question whether infrastructure is adequately protecting them and provides information they can use to advocate for change.