How to Add ZipCheckup to Your Zapier/Make Workflow

Why Automate Water Quality Data

Manual ZIP code lookups work fine for one-off checks. But if you're processing property listings, triaging insurance applications, or monitoring water quality across a portfolio of addresses, you need automation.

ZipCheckup's REST API returns structured JSON for any U.S. ZIP code — no API key required on the free tier. That makes it a perfect fit for no-code platforms like Zapier and Make (formerly Integromat), where you can wire up a trigger, call the API, and route the results to any destination in minutes.

Common automation scenarios:

• A new lead enters your CRM → enrich the record with water quality score and flood risk
• A property listing is added to your sheet → auto-fill environmental risk columns
• Weekly check on 50 ZIP codes → alert Slack if any score drops below a threshold
• Insurance application received → flag high-risk ZIPs before underwriting review

Setting Up a Zapier Zap

Step 1: Choose Your Trigger

Start a new Zap and pick the trigger that matches your data source:

The key requirement: your trigger must provide a ZIP code value. Map it to a variable you'll use in the next step.

Step 2: Add the ZipCheckup API Call

Add a Webhooks by Zapier action (not to be confused with the Webhooks trigger). Choose Custom Request and configure:

Method:  GET
URL:     https://zipcheckup.com/api/v1/zip/{{zip_code}}
Headers: Accept: application/json

Replace {{zip_code}} with the mapped field from your trigger (e.g., the ZIP column from Google Sheets).

Full Zapier HTTP configuration:

{
  "method": "GET",
  "url": "https://zipcheckup.com/api/v1/zip/{{steps.trigger.zip}}",
  "headers": {
    "Accept": "application/json"
  }
}

The API returns a JSON object. Zapier will auto-parse the fields so you can use them in subsequent steps:

{
  "zip": "90210",
  "score": 72,
  "grade": "B",
  "violations": 3,
  "lead_level": "low",
  "radon_zone": 2,
  "flood_claims": 148,
  "components": {
    "water_quality": 78,
    "lead_risk": 85,
    "radon_risk": 62,
    "flood_risk": 55,
    "air_quality": 71
  }
}

Step 3: Route the Results

Add one or more action steps after the API call:

Google Sheets — Update a row:

Map the parsed JSON fields to columns in your spreadsheet:

Column D (Score):       {{steps.webhooks.score}}
Column E (Grade):       {{steps.webhooks.grade}}
Column F (Lead Level):  {{steps.webhooks.lead_level}}
Column G (Flood Risk):  {{steps.webhooks.components__flood_risk}}

Slack — Send a notification:

Channel:  #property-alerts
Message:  🏠 ZIP {{steps.webhooks.zip}} scored {{steps.webhooks.grade}}
          ({{steps.webhooks.score}}/100).
          Lead: {{steps.webhooks.lead_level}} |
          Violations: {{steps.webhooks.violations}}

Email — Send a summary:

Use Email by Zapier or Gmail to send a formatted report to stakeholders or clients with the score, grade, and component breakdown.

Step 4: Add a Filter (Optional)

Insert a Filter step between the API call and the notification to only alert on concerning results:

Only continue if:
  steps.webhooks.score  (Number)  Less than  50
  OR
  steps.webhooks.lead_level  (Text)  Exactly matches  high

This way you only get notified about ZIPs that need attention.

Make (Integromat) Equivalent

Make uses a visual flow builder with modules. Here's the equivalent setup:

Module 1: Trigger

Use a Watch Rows module (Google Sheets), Watch Records (Airtable), or Webhook trigger depending on your data source.

Module 2: HTTP Request

Add an HTTP > Make a Request module:

URL:         https://zipcheckup.com/api/v1/zip/{{1.zip_code}}
Method:      GET
Parse response: Yes

Make will auto-detect the JSON structure and let you map individual fields in downstream modules.

Module 3: Router (Optional)

Add a Router to branch the flow:

• Branch 1: If score < 50 → Send Slack message
• Branch 2: Always → Update Google Sheets row
• Branch 3: If lead_level = "high" → Create task in Asana/Trello

Module 4: Action

Map the API response fields just like in Zapier. Make uses dot notation for nested fields:

{{2.data.score}}
{{2.data.grade}}
{{2.data.components.water_quality}}
{{2.data.components.flood_risk}}

Example Use Cases

Real Estate CRM Enrichment

A real estate platform adds ZipCheckup data to every new listing:

Trigger:  New listing in MLS feed (webhook)
Action 1: GET /api/v1/zip/{listing_zip}
Action 2: Update CRM record with score, grade, flood_claims
Action 3: If grade = "D" or "F" → flag for agent review

The agent sees a water quality score right on the listing card — no manual lookup needed.

Insurance Underwriting Alerts

An insurance company pre-screens applications:

Trigger:  New application submitted (webhook)
Action 1: GET /api/v1/zip/{applicant_zip}
Filter:   flood_claims > 500 OR radon_zone = 1 OR score < 40
Action 2: Create Jira ticket for manual underwriting review
Action 3: Add risk flag to applicant record

Weekly Portfolio Monitor

A property management company tracks environmental risk across 200 properties:

Trigger:  Schedule (every Monday at 8am)
Action 1: Get all ZIPs from Google Sheet column A
Action 2: Loop → GET /api/v1/zip/{zip} for each
Action 3: Compare to last week's scores (stored in column B)
Action 4: If score decreased by 10+ points → Slack alert
Action 5: Update sheet with current scores

Rate Limits and Tips

• Free tier: 100 requests/day, no API key needed
• Batch lookups: If you're checking 50+ ZIPs, space requests with a 1-second delay in Make's loop settings (Zapier handles this automatically)
• Caching: Store results in your sheet/database. Water quality scores update quarterly — you don't need to re-fetch daily
• Error handling: Add an error path in Make or a Zapier "Paths" step to handle 429 (rate limit) or 404 (invalid ZIP) responses gracefully

Pro Tip: Use Zapier's built-in "Looping by Zapier" action to batch-process multiple ZIPs from a single trigger. Pair it with a 1-second delay step to stay within rate limits.