#water

Jun 3, 2026

Lead in tap water: where it comes from, what the federal rule now requires, and what actually reduces it at your tap

Unlike the PFAS rule the EPA moved to cut in 2026, the federal lead rule is getting stronger, not weaker — the Lead and Copper Rule Improvements are phasing in now, with the action level dropping to 10 ppb in November 2027 and a mandate to replace nearly all of the country's ~9 million lead service lines by around 2037. Here's what the rule actually requires, how to find out if you have a lead line, and which filters are certified to reduce lead — sourced to EPA, CDC, and NSF.

water
lead
filtration

May 27, 2026

Whole-house vs point-of-use water filtration: what each actually does, when each makes sense, and where the marketing overstates

Most "whole-house vs point-of-use" comparisons are written by people who sell one or the other. Here's the honest breakdown — what each technology actually does, what it costs over five years, when whole-house is the right call, and when a single point-of-use filter handles 95% of what you actually care about.

water
filtration
labels

May 25, 2026

Microplastics in tap water: what's actually measured, what the science does and doesn't say, and what filters reduce them

Microplastics in drinking water is a genuinely contested area. Some claims are well-supported by peer-reviewed research, others have outpaced the evidence. Here's what's actually known as of May 2026, what regulators are doing, and which filtration technologies have demonstrated reduction performance.

water
microplastics
regulation

May 18, 2026

The EPA proposed cutting its PFAS drinking water rule in half today. Here's what would actually be enforceable if it becomes final.

On May 18, 2026 the EPA published two proposed rules that, if finalized, would preserve federal MCLs for PFOA and PFOS while rescinding the limits set in 2024 for PFHxS, PFNA, HFPO-DA, and the Hazard Index mixture. Here's the full picture as of today.

water
regulation
pfas

Mar 2, 2026

How to read a municipal water quality report without losing your mind

The annual Consumer Confidence Report your water utility sends out is full of numbers that look reassuring and aren't. Here's what to actually pay attention to.

water
labels