Tap Score vs National Testing Labs vs county health — current cost table (2026)
Three honest paths to a well-water report: a county or state desk, Tap Score / SimpleLab, or National Testing Laboratories’ Watercheck kits. Here are the listed prices we checked tonight, what is in each box, and the shipping and lender traps that do not show up on the product hero.
The short version
- Call county environmental health first for the annual bacteria check. Where a county or state lab still takes homeowners, bacteria plus nitrate is often $0–$50. That is the right first call, not a $200 mail-in kit, when all you need is the yearly coliform.
- Mail-in kits buy a broader panel and an emailed PDF. Tonight’s listed starters: Tap Score Essential Well $209 (54 analytes, shipping both ways included) and Watercheck Basic $220 (36 analytes, next-day return shipping not included).
- Ask the lender before you sample. A mail-in kit can be a perfectly good health file and still bounce at closing if the underwriter named a local lab and a chain-of-custody form.
Side-by-side costs (checked Aug 30, 2026)
The table scrolls sideways on a phone.
| County / state desk | Tap Score / SimpleLab | NTL Watercheck | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Starter cost | Often $0–$50 for bacteria ± nitrate where a program exists. Some counties do not offer it. | Essential Well $209 (54 analytes) | Basic $220 (36 analytes) |
| Mid / broader panel | Per-analyte quotes from a certified drop-off. We will not invent a panel price. | Advanced Well $399 (114 analytes; VOCs, petroleum compounds) | Standard $255 (87 analytes; + VOCs / trihalomethanes) |
| Wide / specialty | PFAS and radiologicals often require a lab with those methods on scope. Call. | Extended Well $1,125 (142 analytes, includes 25 PFAS). Standalone PFAS Water Test $335 (18 analytes, EPA 537.1). | Deluxe $310 (107 analytes; + pesticides / herbicides / PCBs). Radiological and single-analyte kits sold separately. |
| What you get | Usually a short panel: coliform, sometimes nitrate, sometimes a few metals. Ask how they send results. | Certified-lab analysis via SimpleLab’s network. Detailed emailed report with health / plumbing notes and treatment suggestions that are not a sales visit. | In-house analysis at National Testing Laboratories, Cleveland, OH. Side-by-side EPA comparison report. Call them if you need help reading it. |
| Shipping | You drive. Bacteria still has a short hold time — plan the day, not Friday afternoon. | Essential: standard shipping both ways included. Advanced / Extended: overnight return to the lab included. | Free delivery of the empty kit in the 48 contiguous states. Next-day return shipping is not included. Call NTL for a UPS label before you collect. |
| Lab turnaround | Often a few days to a couple of weeks after they have the bottle. | Essential / Advanced: about 5 business days at the lab. Extended: about 12. | Basic about 7 business days from receipt. Standard about 7–10. Deluxe longer. |
| PDF? | Usually a written or emailed county / state report. Ask. | Yes. Email is the product. | Yes. Email / report is the product. |
| Sales visit? | No. | No. | No. |
| Lender / CoC? | Sometimes, if the county is a certified lab and the underwriter accepts that short panel. | Sometimes not. Kit materials include chain-of-custody paperwork, but many underwriters still want a local lab they named. Ask first. | Same caveat. NTL says contact them for regulatory / litigation packages. Do not assume the Basic kit closes a loan. |
Affiliate disclosure: links to Tap Score may earn WellTestList a commission. Links to National Testing Laboratories are not affiliate links; we earn nothing from them. That does not change who we refuse to list. Watercheck’s site was showing a promo banner tonight; the dollars above are list prices, not the coupon.
County and state numbers we have actually verified
County fees are local. These are the ones already on our state pages with a public URL. Use them as a feel for the cheap path, not as a national price list.
| Program | What it is | Listed cost |
|---|---|---|
| EGLE Drinking Water Lab (Michigan) | State consumer lab. Coliform, partial chemistry, arsenic, and more on a published fee schedule. | Coliform $16; partial chemistry $18; arsenic $18 on the July 1, 2024 schedule. Fees rise October 1, 2026. |
| Bucks County Health (Pennsylvania) | Residential bacteria (coliform) sampling kit. | $25. Not nitrates, metals, or PFAS. |
| Fillmore SWCD lab (Minnesota) | MDH-certified bacteria kit; year-round nitrate screening separately. | Bacteria kit $50 ($20 if a pregnant person or child under one lives in the house). Nitrate screening listed free. |
| TAP-IN (SE Minnesota, eight counties) | Free certified mailed kit: nitrate plus bacteria, arsenic, lead, manganese — while supplies last. | Free for eligible private-well users in those counties (MDH page checked May / Aug 2026). |
Details and phone numbers live on the state pages: Michigan, Minnesota, Pennsylvania, Texas.
Kit-by-kit (mail-in only)
Tap Score / SimpleLab
| Kit | Price | Analytes | Shipping / lab days |
|---|---|---|---|
| Essential Well | $209 | 54 — metals, minerals, nitrate/nitrite, coliform / E. coli, general properties | Standard both ways · 5 business days at lab |
| Advanced Well | $399 | 114 — adds VOCs / SVOCs, petroleum compounds, some pesticides | Overnight return to lab included · 5 business days |
| Extended Well | $1,125 | 142 — adds radiologicals and 25 PFAS | Overnight return · about 12 business days |
| PFAS Water Test (standalone) | $335 | 18 PFAS by EPA 537.1 | About 10 business days at lab |
Tap Score is the consumer brand. SimpleLab routes the bottles to accredited labs in its network. The Essential kit is the annual baseline for most private wells that already passed a cheap county bacteria check, or for people whose county does not offer one.
National Testing Laboratories — Watercheck
| Kit | Price | Analytes | Shipping / lab days |
|---|---|---|---|
| WaterCheck Lite | $169 | Lighter informational tier | Free kit delivery · next-day return not included |
| WaterCheck Basic | $220 | 36 — bacteria, 22 metals/minerals, 7 inorganics, 5 physical factors | Free kit delivery · next-day return not included · ~7 business days |
| WaterCheck Standard | $255 | 87 — adds 47 VOCs and 4 trihalomethanes | Free kit delivery · next-day return not included · ~7–10 business days |
| WaterCheck Deluxe | $310 | 107 — adds 20 pesticides / herbicides / PCBs | Free kit delivery · next-day return not included · longer turnaround |
NTL analyzes Watercheck kits in Cleveland. The sticker price is not the all-in price if you forget return shipping. Bacteria bottles still need overnight return, not a Friday mailbox. They also sell a Lite kit and single-analyte add-ons (arsenic, radon, lead, and so on) if you only need one number.
Which path when
- Yearly bacteria (and nitrate, if they run it). County environmental health, or a state consumer lab like EGLE in Michigan. Cheapest honest path.
- Broader annual panel, no walk-in desk nearby, want a PDF this month. Tap Score Essential ($209, shipping both ways) or Watercheck Basic ($220 + next-day return). Essential is the cleaner all-in number tonight.
- Oil / gas, solvents, industrial neighbors, or a suspected VOC problem. Tap Score Advanced ($399) or Watercheck Standard ($255 + return). Count return shipping on the Watercheck side before you call Advanced “more expensive.”
- PFAS. Not inside Essential or Watercheck Basic / Standard / Deluxe as a full Method 533 / 537.1 panel. Tap Score sells a standalone PFAS kit at $335 (EPA 537.1) and folds 25 PFAS into Extended Well at $1,125. Or find a local certified lab with those methods on scope. See the dedicated PFAS Method 533 / 537.1 page.
- Home purchase / lender. Ask the underwriter for the lab name, analyte list, and chain-of-custody form before you buy any kit. Mail-in Essential / Basic is often the wrong shape for that file. See the dedicated home purchase / lender (chain of custody) page for loan-type practice and the closing kits.
The shipping trap, in one paragraph
Bacteria has a short hold time — roughly a day, kept cold, depending on the method. That is why county labs refuse Friday bacteria drop-offs, and why mail-in kits that include bacteria want overnight return. Tap Score Essential includes that return shipping in the $209. Watercheck Basic’s $220 does not. Call NTL for a UPS label before you fill the bottle, and do not collect on Friday for either brand.
What to do tonight
- Call county environmental health and ask for private-well bacteria (and nitrate). If they have a kit under $50, that is your annual check.
- If your county is a dead end and you want a broader PDF, open Tap Score Essential Well ($209) or NTL / Watercheck Basic ($220 + return). Read the hold-time card in the box.
- If a bank is involved, get the lab and form in writing from the lender first. Do not substitute a mail-in kit and hope. Read home purchase / lender CoC.
- Match the panel to the land after the cheap bacteria check: arsenic, nitrate, lead, and PFAS where geology or neighbors warrant it. State pages above have the local notes.
Not this if…
- Someone offered a free in-home “test” that ends in a softener pitch. That is not on this table. See the Home Depot free-kit comparison.
- You only wanted a strip from the hardware aisle. Fine as screening-only. It is not a certified analysis and it is not priced here as one.
- A lender named a local lab and a chain-of-custody form. Use that lab. Do not buy Essential or Basic and hope the underwriter softens. Details: home purchase / lender CoC.
- You expected us to invent a national average for “certified drop-off lab panels.” Those quotes are local. Call the lab. We only put dollars on this page when a public listing or fee schedule said them.
Related: How to read a report · PFAS 533 / 537.1 · Home Depot free kit vs a certified lab · Michigan · Minnesota · Pennsylvania · Texas · How it works · back to the directory.