diff --git a/DESCRIPTION b/DESCRIPTION
index d19c8ff286e86d683c02cb84173dd394652ff737..f536f2a802b47c66b3573798bd8c56ec62b40db6 100644
--- a/DESCRIPTION
+++ b/DESCRIPTION
@@ -35,7 +35,8 @@ Imports:
     stats,
     utils,
     dplyr,
-    readr (>= 0.1.1.9000)
+    readr (>= 0.1.1.9000),
+    httr
 Suggests:
     xtable,
     knitr,
diff --git a/R/readWQPdata.R b/R/readWQPdata.R
index 9d52553de7375124a40ecdbb4c7b5503a82ac317..208fc11f4d31eb786319774866bbac1b7343cec0 100644
--- a/R/readWQPdata.R
+++ b/R/readWQPdata.R
@@ -4,7 +4,8 @@
 #' because it allows for other agencies rather than the USGS.  
 #'
 #' @param \dots see \url{www.waterqualitydata.us/webservices_documentation.jsp} for a complete list of options
-#' @param zip logical to request data via downloading zip file. Default set to FALSE.
+#' @param zip logical to request data via downloading zip file. Default set to FALSE. 
+#' @param querySummary logical to request the number of sites and results a particular query would return before downloading the data.
 #' @keywords data import WQP web service
 #' @return A data frame with at least the following columns:
 #' \tabular{lll}{ 
@@ -97,7 +98,7 @@
 #' 
 #'                         
 #' }
-readWQPdata <- function(..., zip=FALSE){
+readWQPdata <- function(..., zip=FALSE, querySummary=FALSE){
   
   matchReturn <- list(...)
 
@@ -154,53 +155,59 @@ readWQPdata <- function(..., zip=FALSE){
   
   if(zip) urlCall <- paste0(urlCall,"&zip=yes")
   
-  retval <- importWQP(urlCall,zip=zip, tz=tz)
-  
-  if(!all(is.na(retval))){
-    siteInfo <- whatWQPsites(...,zip=zip)
+  if(querySummary){
+    queryHEAD <- HEAD(urlCall)
+    retquery <- headers(queryHEAD)
+    return(retquery)
+  } else {
+    retval <- importWQP(urlCall,zip=zip, tz=tz)
     
-    siteInfoCommon <- data.frame(station_nm=siteInfo$MonitoringLocationName,
-                                 agency_cd=siteInfo$OrganizationIdentifier,
-                                 site_no=siteInfo$MonitoringLocationIdentifier,
-                                 dec_lat_va=siteInfo$LatitudeMeasure,
-                                 dec_lon_va=siteInfo$LongitudeMeasure,
-                                 hucCd=siteInfo$HUCEightDigitCode,
+    if(!all(is.na(retval))){
+      siteInfo <- whatWQPsites(...,zip=zip)
+      
+      siteInfoCommon <- data.frame(station_nm=siteInfo$MonitoringLocationName,
+                                   agency_cd=siteInfo$OrganizationIdentifier,
+                                   site_no=siteInfo$MonitoringLocationIdentifier,
+                                   dec_lat_va=siteInfo$LatitudeMeasure,
+                                   dec_lon_va=siteInfo$LongitudeMeasure,
+                                   hucCd=siteInfo$HUCEightDigitCode,
+                                   stringsAsFactors=FALSE)
+      
+      siteInfo <- cbind(siteInfoCommon, siteInfo)
+      
+      retvalVariableInfo <- retval[,c("CharacteristicName","USGSPCode",
+                                      "ResultMeasure.MeasureUnitCode","ResultSampleFractionText")]
+      retvalVariableInfo <- unique(retvalVariableInfo)
+      
+      variableInfo <- data.frame(characteristicName=retval$CharacteristicName,
+                                 parameterCd=retval$USGSPCode,
+                                 param_units=retval$ResultMeasure.MeasureUnitCode,
+                                 valueType=retval$ResultSampleFractionText,
                                  stringsAsFactors=FALSE)
-    
-    siteInfo <- cbind(siteInfoCommon, siteInfo)
-    
-    retvalVariableInfo <- retval[,c("CharacteristicName","USGSPCode",
-                                    "ResultMeasure.MeasureUnitCode","ResultSampleFractionText")]
-    retvalVariableInfo <- unique(retvalVariableInfo)
-    
-    variableInfo <- data.frame(characteristicName=retval$CharacteristicName,
-                               parameterCd=retval$USGSPCode,
-                               param_units=retval$ResultMeasure.MeasureUnitCode,
-                               valueType=retval$ResultSampleFractionText,
-                               stringsAsFactors=FALSE)
-    
-    if(any(!is.na(variableInfo$parameterCd))){
-      pcodes <- unique(variableInfo$parameterCd[!is.na(variableInfo$parameterCd)])
-      pcodes <- pcodes["" != pcodes]
-      paramINFO <- readNWISpCode(pcodes)
-      names(paramINFO)["parameter_cd" == names(paramINFO)] <- "parameterCd"
       
-      pCodeToName <- pCodeToName
-      varExtras <- pCodeToName[pCodeToName$parm_cd %in% unique(variableInfo$parameterCd[!is.na(variableInfo$parameterCd)]),]
-      names(varExtras)[names(varExtras) == "parm_cd"] <- "parameterCd"
-      variableInfo <- merge(variableInfo, varExtras, by="parameterCd", all = TRUE)
-      variableInfo <- merge(variableInfo, paramINFO, by="parameterCd", all = TRUE)
-      variableInfo <- unique(variableInfo)
+      if(any(!is.na(variableInfo$parameterCd))){
+        pcodes <- unique(variableInfo$parameterCd[!is.na(variableInfo$parameterCd)])
+        pcodes <- pcodes["" != pcodes]
+        paramINFO <- readNWISpCode(pcodes)
+        names(paramINFO)["parameter_cd" == names(paramINFO)] <- "parameterCd"
+        
+        pCodeToName <- pCodeToName
+        varExtras <- pCodeToName[pCodeToName$parm_cd %in% unique(variableInfo$parameterCd[!is.na(variableInfo$parameterCd)]),]
+        names(varExtras)[names(varExtras) == "parm_cd"] <- "parameterCd"
+        variableInfo <- merge(variableInfo, varExtras, by="parameterCd", all = TRUE)
+        variableInfo <- merge(variableInfo, paramINFO, by="parameterCd", all = TRUE)
+        variableInfo <- unique(variableInfo)
+      }
+      
+      attr(retval, "siteInfo") <- siteInfo
+      attr(retval, "variableInfo") <- variableInfo
+      attr(retval, "url") <- urlCall
+      attr(retval, "queryTime") <- Sys.time()
+      
+      return(retval)
+    } else {
+      message("The following url returned no data:\n")
+      message(urlCall)
     }
-    
-    attr(retval, "siteInfo") <- siteInfo
-    attr(retval, "variableInfo") <- variableInfo
-    attr(retval, "url") <- urlCall
-    attr(retval, "queryTime") <- Sys.time()
-    
-    return(retval)
-  } else {
-    message("The following url returned no data:\n")
-    message(urlCall)
   }
 }
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/R/readWQPqw.r b/R/readWQPqw.r
index 684fd1a0b7358c86eb478e91f720b66a16ad05f9..e42e9ee545dd17ddb5e89ff3f34ccd2c01e5a274 100644
--- a/R/readWQPqw.r
+++ b/R/readWQPqw.r
@@ -108,68 +108,93 @@
 #' rawPHsites <- readWQPqw(c('USGS-05406450', 'USGS-05427949','WIDNR_WQX-133040'), 'pH','','')
 #' nwisEx <- readWQPqw('USGS-04024000',c('34247','30234','32104','34220'),'','2012-12-20')
 #' }
-readWQPqw <- function(siteNumbers,parameterCd,startDate="",endDate="",tz=""){
+readWQPqw <- function(siteNumbers,parameterCd,startDate="",endDate="",tz="", querySummary=FALSE){
 
   url <- constructWQPURL(siteNumbers,parameterCd,startDate,endDate)
-  retval <- importWQP(url, tz = tz)
   
-  pcodeCheck <- all(nchar(parameterCd) == 5) & all(!is.na(suppressWarnings(as.numeric(parameterCd))))
-  
-  if (nzchar(startDate)){
-    startDate <- format(as.Date(startDate), format="%m-%d-%Y")
-  }
-  
-  if (nzchar(endDate)){
-    endDate <- format(as.Date(endDate), format="%m-%d-%Y")
-  }
-  
-  if(pcodeCheck){
-    siteInfo <- whatWQPsites(siteid=paste0(siteNumbers,collapse=";"),
-                             pCode=paste0(parameterCd,collapse=";"), 
-                             startDateLo=startDate, startDateHi=endDate)
+  if(querySummary){
+    queryHEAD <- HEAD(url)
+    retquery <- headers(queryHEAD)
+    return(retquery)
   } else {
-    siteInfo <- whatWQPsites(siteid=paste0(siteNumbers,collapse=";"), 
-                             characteristicName=URLencode(paste0(parameterCd,collapse=";")), 
-                             startDateLo=startDate, startDateHi=endDate)
-  }
+    retval <- importWQP(url, tz = tz)
     
-  siteInfoCommon <- data.frame(station_nm=siteInfo$MonitoringLocationName,
-                               agency_cd=siteInfo$OrganizationIdentifier,
-                               site_no=siteInfo$MonitoringLocationIdentifier,
-                               dec_lat_va=siteInfo$LatitudeMeasure,
-                               dec_lon_va=siteInfo$LongitudeMeasure,
-                               hucCd=siteInfo$HUCEightDigitCode,
-                               stringsAsFactors=FALSE)
-  
-  siteInfo <- cbind(siteInfoCommon, siteInfo)
-  
-  
-  variableInfo <- data.frame(characteristicName=retval$CharacteristicName,
-                             parameterCd=retval$USGSPCode,
-                             param_units=retval$ResultMeasure.MeasureUnitCode,
-                             valueType=retval$ResultSampleFractionText,
-                             stringsAsFactors=FALSE)
-  variableInfo <- unique(variableInfo)
-  
-  if(any(!is.na(variableInfo$parameterCd))){
-    pcodes <- unique(variableInfo$parameterCd[!is.na(variableInfo$parameterCd)])
-    pcodes <- pcodes["" != pcodes]
-    paramINFO <- readNWISpCode(pcodes)
-    names(paramINFO)["parameter_cd" == names(paramINFO)] <- "parameterCd"
+    siteInfoCommon <- data.frame(station_nm=siteInfo$MonitoringLocationName,
+                                 agency_cd=siteInfo$OrganizationIdentifier,
+                                 site_no=siteInfo$MonitoringLocationIdentifier,
+                                 dec_lat_va=siteInfo$LatitudeMeasure,
+                                 dec_lon_va=siteInfo$LongitudeMeasure,
+                                 hucCd=siteInfo$HUCEightDigitCode,
+                                 stringsAsFactors=FALSE)
+    
+    siteInfo <- cbind(siteInfoCommon, siteInfo)
     
-    pCodeToName <- pCodeToName
-    varExtras <- pCodeToName[pCodeToName$parm_cd %in% unique(variableInfo$parameterCd[!is.na(variableInfo$parameterCd)]),]
-    names(varExtras)[names(varExtras) == "parm_cd"] <- "parameterCd"
-    variableInfo <- merge(variableInfo, varExtras, by="parameterCd", all = TRUE)
-    variableInfo <- merge(variableInfo, paramINFO, by="parameterCd", all = TRUE)
+    
+    variableInfo <- data.frame(characteristicName=retval$CharacteristicName,
+                               parameterCd=retval$USGSPCode,
+                               param_units=retval$ResultMeasure.MeasureUnitCode,
+                               valueType=retval$ResultSampleFractionText,
+                               stringsAsFactors=FALSE)
     variableInfo <- unique(variableInfo)
+    
+    if(any(!is.na(variableInfo$parameterCd))){
+      pcodes <- unique(variableInfo$parameterCd[!is.na(variableInfo$parameterCd)])
+      pcodes <- pcodes["" != pcodes]
+      paramINFO <- readNWISpCode(pcodes)
+      names(paramINFO)["parameter_cd" == names(paramINFO)] <- "parameterCd"
+      
+      if (nzchar(endDate)){
+        endDate <- format(as.Date(endDate), format="%m-%d-%Y")
+      }
+      
+      if(pcodeCheck){
+        siteInfo <- whatWQPsites(siteid=paste0(siteNumbers,collapse=";"),
+                                 pCode=paste0(parameterCd,collapse=";"), 
+                                 startDateLo=startDate, startDateHi=endDate)
+      } else {
+        siteInfo <- whatWQPsites(siteid=paste0(siteNumbers,collapse=";"), 
+                                 characteristicName=URLencode(paste0(parameterCd,collapse=";")), 
+                                 startDateLo=startDate, startDateHi=endDate)
+      }
+        
+      siteInfoCommon <- data.frame(station_nm=siteInfo$MonitoringLocationName,
+                                   agency_cd=siteInfo$OrganizationIdentifier,
+                                   site_no=siteInfo$MonitoringLocationIdentifier,
+                                   dec_lat_va=siteInfo$LatitudeMeasure,
+                                   dec_lon_va=siteInfo$LongitudeMeasure,
+                                   hucCd=siteInfo$HUCEightDigitCode,
+                                   stringsAsFactors=FALSE)
+      
+      siteInfo <- cbind(siteInfoCommon, siteInfo)
+      
+      
+      variableInfo <- data.frame(characteristicName=retval$CharacteristicName,
+                                 parameterCd=retval$USGSPCode,
+                                 param_units=retval$ResultMeasure.MeasureUnitCode,
+                                 valueType=retval$ResultSampleFractionText,
+                                 stringsAsFactors=FALSE)
+      variableInfo <- unique(variableInfo)
+      
+      if(any(variableInfo$parameterCd != "")){
+        pcodes <- unique(variableInfo$parameterCd[!is.na(variableInfo$parameterCd)])
+        pcodes <- pcodes["" != pcodes]
+        paramINFO <- readNWISpCode(pcodes)
+        names(paramINFO)["parameter_cd" == names(paramINFO)] <- "parameterCd"
+        
+        pCodeToName <- pCodeToName
+        varExtras <- pCodeToName[pCodeToName$parm_cd %in% unique(variableInfo$parameterCd[!is.na(variableInfo$parameterCd)]),]
+        names(varExtras)[names(varExtras) == "parm_cd"] <- "parameterCd"
+        variableInfo <- merge(variableInfo, varExtras, by="parameterCd", all = TRUE)
+        variableInfo <- merge(variableInfo, paramINFO, by="parameterCd", all = TRUE)
+        variableInfo <- unique(variableInfo)
+      }
+      
+      attr(retval, "siteInfo") <- siteInfo
+      attr(retval, "variableInfo") <- variableInfo
+      attr(retval, "url") <- url
+      attr(retval, "queryTime") <- Sys.time()
+      
+      return(retval)
+    }
   }
-  
-  attr(retval, "siteInfo") <- siteInfo
-  attr(retval, "variableInfo") <- variableInfo
-  attr(retval, "url") <- url
-  attr(retval, "queryTime") <- Sys.time()
-  
-  return(retval)
-  
 }
diff --git a/tests/testthat/tests_general.R b/tests/testthat/tests_general.R
index 9a966864f0b7cade16aa267718862da4b7a12204..813c2c8e7d995cef524db84ed33c7a3fff7b8111 100644
--- a/tests/testthat/tests_general.R
+++ b/tests/testthat/tests_general.R
@@ -53,3 +53,18 @@ test_that("General WQP retrievals working", {
                          characteristicType="Nutrient")
   expect_is(nutrientDaneCounty$ActivityStartDateTime, 'POSIXct')
 })
+
+test_that("WQP head query retrieval working", {
+  testthat::skip_on_cran()
+  # testthat::skip_on_cran()
+  # Bring back when WQP is back
+  nameToUse <- "pH"
+  pHDataQueryResults <- readWQPdata(siteid="USGS-04024315",
+                                    characteristicName=nameToUse, 
+                                    querySummary=TRUE)
+  expect_false(is.null(pHDataQueryResults$`total-site-count`))
+  expect_is(pHDataQueryResults$`total-site-count`, 'character')
+  expect_false(is.null(pHDataQueryResults$`total-result-count`))
+  expect_is(pHDataQueryResults$`total-result-count`, 'character')
+  
+})