If you've ever been asked to provide a urine sample for a medical test, you're probably aware that adding tap water to the sample can cause problems. But what exactly happens when tap water is added to a urine test? Can it affect the results of the test? What about other liquids? In this article, we'll explore what happens if you add tap water to a urine test and how this could change your diagnosis or treatment.
Urine samples can be diluted with tap water, and this can affect the accuracy of your test results. Urine is typically a sterile sample, so adding any foreign substances—including water—to it may cause problems.
For example, if you use tap water to dilute your urine sample prior to testing and you're being tested for pregnancy hormones (hCG), then this could result in an inaccurate result since hCG levels will be lower than they really are due to dilution from the water you added.
Similarly, if someone's taking a drug test at work or school and they add some salt or baking soda before submitting their sample—which causes their urine pH level to rise above normal range—adding tap water may cause their sample pH levels to drop back down within normal range again but still have false-positives show up on their lab report!
If a patient is being tested for diabetes, for example, adding tap water could change the results of the test. The glucose levels in their urine sample would be diluted by the tap water, which could lead to an inaccurate diagnosis. In addition, tap water can contain bacteria that may affect the accuracy of other tests as well.
So always follow instructions when giving a urine sample at your doctor's office or lab!
If you have diabetes, your doctor may conduct a test to check your urine for the presence of glucose. This test is performed to confirm whether or not you are diabetic. If a patient is being tested for diabetes, for example, tap water could dilute the glucose levels in their urine sample.
A positive result from this type of test means that there is an elevated amount of glucose in their urine. The same thing can happen when tap water has been added: it will dilute the sample and lead to false positives and unnecessary treatment methods that aren't needed!
The tap water in your home is not sterile, and therefore it can contain bacteria that might adversely affect the test results. For example, if a urine sample is contaminated with bacteria or other microorganisms, then these contaminants could interfere with the specific gravity of the urine. This would cause the lab to interpret your result incorrectly and lead to an incorrect diagnosis.
Additionally, laboratory technicians do not want to use their equipment for any purpose other than what it was originally intended for. If they are asked to test a urine sample whose temperature has been changed (as can occur when adding tap water), then this may compromise their ability to run accurate diagnostics on future patients because they have altered their equipment's operating temperature range by adding cold water into it unnecessarily!
The most common concern with adding tap water to a urine test is its potential to dilute the sample, which would make it appear that you’ve diluted your urine sample on purpose. But as we’ve explained earlier, this isn't an issue if you've left enough time between urinating and testing.
However, if your urine has been mixed with other substances—such as detergent, bleach or other chemicals—the test could show false results. This could result in a positive for drugs or alcohol when there are none present in your system; alternatively, it could give a negative result when there are drugs present in normal quantities.
For example, some people will add dishwasher detergent to their test to try and create bubbles that look like protein in a urine sample. This can lead to false positives on the test, which will give you an undeserved positive result for drug use and other issues.
It's also very unlikely that adding anything else (such as baking soda or vinegar) would have any effect on your results because there are no chemicals in those substances that would cause changes.
This can lead to false positives.
When you add tap water to a urine sample, it dilutes the glucose levels in the sample. This could affect the results of the test, leading to inaccurate results and more testing needed.
If tap water is added to a urine sample, it can affect the accuracy of the test.
Tap water contains bacteria, which can contaminate the urine sample and render it useless for testing. Whether you are using a home testing kit or sending your specimen to a lab for analysis, this could lead to false positives or negatives.
Water alone is unlikely to cause much change in test results. However, water mixed with other substances can be problematic. For example, some people will add dishwasher detergent to their test to try and create bubbles that look like protein in a urine sample. This can lead to false positives.