An intercomparison between trained professional and homeowner water collection techniques was conducted to assess the validity of using both inexperienced homeowner water collectors and mail‐in return of point‐of‐use water samples. The findings indicate that homeowner‐collected water samples obtained at the point of use inside the home and professionally collected water samples collected at an outside tap are comparable, especially if confounders, such as air bubbles in the sampling vials, are minimized.