Toolbox · Lab Testing
Lab testing used to be the hardest aisle in lake management. You had to know method numbers, detection limits, and which labs would even take a lake sample. We've done the legwork on methods, detection limits, and labs. This aisle is where a suspicion becomes a fact. Every major lake decision, whether to treat, close a beach, or spend money, depends on a number someone can defend. Lab testing gives you that number, one you can act on and stand behind.29 products
Who this aisle is for
Best when you need results that hold up in a meeting.
Choose by question
Tests are organized by the question people are trying to answer, so you can compare useful options without knowing the laboratory vocabulary first.
29 products
Bacteria, cyanobacteria, and cyanotoxin tests.
Quantified bacteria counts — the standard measure of whether water is safe to swim in.
Measures: E. coli, Total coliform
Turnaround: Return shipping is 1-day, because the sample must reach the lab within 24 hours of collection. Results are available within 10 business days of the lab receiving your sample.
Kit ships in 2 business days
$138
The liver toxin that closes beaches. Order it when you know Microcystis is what you have.
Measures: Total microcystins
Turnaround: Results are available within 5 business days of the lab receiving your sample.
Kit ships in 2 business days
$185
A lake can test clean for microcystin and still be dangerous. This is why.
Measures: Total saxitoxin
Turnaround: Results are available within 7 business days of the lab receiving your sample.
Kit ships in 2 business days
$195
The fastest-acting cyanotoxin. If an animal is sick, sample now — not after an ID.
Measures: Anatoxin-a
Turnaround: Results are available within 7 business days of the lab receiving your sample.
Kit ships in 2 business days
$215
Start here. What do you actually have — answered in 24 hours.
Measures: Harmful algal bloom taxa (microscopic ID), Total cell concentration, Taxa-specific cell concentrations
Turnaround: Results are available within 24 hours of the lab receiving your sample.
Kit ships in 1 business day
$265
A 151-organism biological screen, plus four aggregate indicators of total microbial activity.
Measures: 151 organisms + 4 aggregate indicators
Turnaround: Results are available within 8 business days of the lab receiving your sample.
Kit ships in 2 business days
$398
Clarity, nutrients, chemistry, and algae measurements.
The single most predictive number in lake management, for $52.
Measures: Total Phosphorus
Turnaround: Results are available within 5 business days of the lab receiving your sample.
Kit ships in 2 business days
$52
How much material is suspended in your water, measured by weight.
Measures: Total Suspended Solids (TSS)
Turnaround: Results are available within 8 business days of the lab receiving your sample.
Kit ships in 2 business days
$64
Your lake's buffering capacity — and the number that decides whether alum is safe here.
Measures: Total alkalinity, Total hardness, Calcium +1 more
Turnaround: Results are available within 7 business days of the lab receiving your sample.
Kit ships in 2 business days
$88
Both clarity measurements together — how much material is in the water, and how much it matters.
Measures: Total Suspended Solids (TSS), Turbidity
Turnaround: Results are available within 8 business days of the lab receiving your sample.
Kit ships in 2 business days
$144
Six core parameters from one surface sample — the standard first look at a lake's chemistry.
Measures: pH, Conductivity, Total Phosphorus +3 more
Turnaround: Results are available within 10 business days of the lab receiving your sample.
Kit ships in 2 business days
$163
The direct measure of how much algae your lake is actually growing.
Measures: Chlorophyll-a
Turnaround: Results are available within 10 business days of the lab receiving your sample.
Kit ships in 2 business days
$215
Three forms of nitrogen — the panel that shows where nitrogen is coming from and what it is doing.
Measures: Nitrate, Ammonia, Total Kjeldahl Nitrogen (TKN)
Turnaround: Results are available within 5 business days of the lab receiving your sample.
Kit ships in 2 business days
$225
Nitrogen and phosphorus together — the standard panel for judging eutrophication risk.
Measures: Nitrate, Total Phosphorus, Total Kjeldahl Nitrogen (TKN)
Turnaround: Results are available within 5 business days of the lab receiving your sample.
Kit ships in 2 business days
$225
Genetic testing for species and invasives.
One species, one question: is it here yet?
Measures: DNA of one named target species
Turnaround: Results are available within 10 business days of the lab receiving your sample.
Kit ships in 2 business days
$350
A genetic census of everything living in your lake, from three syringes of water.
Measures: Species DNA across the community (fish, plants, algae, invertebrates, and in many cases pathogens), Invasive-species check
Turnaround: Results are available in 15 - 20 business days of the lab receiving your samples.
Kits ship in 2 business days
$900
One species, one question: is it alive and active here now?
Measures: RNA of one named target species
Turnaround: Results are available in 15 - 20 business days of the lab receiving your samples.
Kit ships in 1–2 business days
$1,750
Not who has been here. What is alive and active right now.
Measures: RNA of the living, active community, Functional activity (stress response, toxin-gene expression)
Turnaround: Results are available in 15 - 20 business days of the lab receiving your samples.
Kits ship in 2 business days
$3,000
Fish tissue testing.
These tests measure what is in the fish. Consumption advice is issued by your state agency.
Mercury and heavy metals in the fish your lake community eats.
Measures: Mercury, Arsenic, Cadmium +1 more
Turnaround: Results are available within 10 business days of the lab receiving your sample.
Kit ships in 1–2 business days
$300
A broad screen of pesticide residues in fish from your lake.
Measures: Details coming soon
Turnaround: Results are available within 10 business days of the lab receiving your sample.
Kit ships in 1–2 business days
$300
PFAS, including PFOS, in the fish your lake community eats.
Measures: PFOS
Turnaround: Results are available within 10 business days of the lab receiving your sample.
Kit ships in 1–2 business days
$300
All three fish tissue tests in one order. Same price, less hassle.
Measures: Mercury, Arsenic, Cadmium +2 more
Turnaround: Results are available within 10 business days of the lab receiving your samples.
Kit ships in 1–2 business days
$900
Road salt, pesticides, metals, hydrocarbons, and PFAS.
Chloride does not break down and does not leave. This is the record of how much has arrived.
Measures: Chloride, Specific conductance
Turnaround: Results are available within 7 business days of the lab receiving your sample.
Kit ships in 2 business days
$86.40
Nine legacy and high-priority contaminants, including atrazine — the compounds the broad panel does not cover.
Measures: 9 compounds
Turnaround: Results are available within 10 business days of the lab receiving your sample.
Kit ships in 2 business days
$235
Seventeen heavy metals — the panel for mining, industrial, urban, and legacy contamination.
Measures: 17 metals
Turnaround: Results are available within 10 business days of the lab receiving your sample.
Kit ships in 2 business days
$275
Eighteen PAHs — the fuel and combustion compounds behind oil spills, road runoff, and marina contamination.
Measures: 18 compounds
Turnaround: Results are available within 10 business days of the lab receiving your sample.
Kit ships in 2 business days
$300
Forty forever chemicals by EPA Method 1633 — the defensible PFAS number.
Measures: ~40 compounds
Turnaround: Results are available within 15 business days of the lab receiving your sample.
Kit ships in 2 business days
$799
What the lake bed holds and can release back into the water.
The entry-level sediment phosphorus number — total stock plus the immediately available slice.
Measures: Orthophosphate as P, Total Phosphorus
Turnaround: Results are available within 10 business days of the lab receiving your sample.
Kit ships in 2 business days
$272
Not how much phosphorus is in your sediment, but how much of it can come back out.
Measures: Total Phosphorus, Loosely bound phosphorus, Iron-bound phosphorus +7 more
Turnaround: Results are available within 10 business days of the lab receiving your sample.
Kit ships in 2 business days
$434
Questions about this aisle
The questions we get most often on this shelf. If yours isn't here, ask — we would rather answer first than sell you the wrong thing.
Lab testing & lake health
