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As a follow up question to this, I'm interesting in testing every batch of tap water for the PPM of various minerals (calcium, magnesium, sodium, chloride, sulfate, etc). Are these test strips available at the LHBS? I saw that Northern Brewer had complete water testing kits available starting at $100, but I would rather not pay that much.
How can I test the PPM of the tap water, myself?
If you're insistent on testing it yourself, aquarium supply places purportedly have testing kits, but I haven't looked into them.
You can also send a (pre- or post-filtered) sample to Ward Labs, who have multiple specific homebrewer water tests for $30-40. As Denny mentions, doing this on a multi-year period (or if you feel/know that things are changing due to municipal water changes) is totally sufficient. Also, the municipal water organization will likely have a yearly report, though if it's like most it'll have most but not all of the ion values you care about as a homebrewer.
