Water, the pundits have long maintained, is the key to understanding the West, but nowadays it’s looking like water may be a key to the future of the whole world. With supplies of clean water dwindling and environmentally related diseases increasing, there’s no place like home to learn to use water wisely.

When I was a kid in L.A., nobody wanted to know about water. Coming from hundreds of miles away, it gurgled through the pipes with its reassuring dose of chlorine, and the Culligan Man took care of the rest. Water was cheap, it was plentiful, and cancer seemed relatively rare. In those days we gave not a thought to the environment and never considered the effects of high-phosphate detergents, salt, or chlorine.

What a change a few decades have made! Health and environmental awareness have become both inseparable and paramount, while technology overwhelms us with lists of contaminants from E. coli to radon to volatile organic compounds, and with remedies including filtration, reverse osmosis, salt softening, increased calcite nucleation, and UV treatment. You can even find magnetic gadgets and blown-glass vortexes that purport to energize your water, make plants grow better, and cure whatever ails you. Faced with all of this, where is an ordinary homeowner supposed to begin?

A water test offers a nice, objective start. If you are on a municipal system, the water company is usually required to provide you with test results on request. If you have your own well, you can get a local water treatment professional to take samples and send them to a certified lab for about $200 worth of comprehensive testing.

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