Myth #5
“They’re watching my water all the way to my tap. They’d tell me if something was wrong.”
Fact: Once water leaves the treatment plant, lead testing at the tap relies on samples from a limited number of homes — 5 to 100, depending on system size — collected every six months at most, and as rarely as once every three or nine years for systems on reduced monitoring.[1] Nobody is watching your tap. Between the plant and your glass are miles of pipe, old service lines, and your own plumbing, and any of it can change what comes out.
Myth #4
“My water is always the same.”
Fact: Your water changes with the weather, and with a lot more. Heavy rain, drought, seasons, a main break, construction nearby, a utility switching sources, even water sitting in your pipes overnight can all change what you’re drinking. That’s why one test is a snapshot, and why Guardians keep watching.
Myth #3
“Water problems happen somewhere else. America has the best water in the world.”
Fact: U.S. water is good by global standards, and it still isn’t guaranteed. A federal USGS study tested tap water straight from kitchen sinks across the country. It estimated that at least 45% of U.S. tap water contains PFAS, the “forever chemicals.” USGS estimated the probability of PFAS not being observed in tap water at about 75% in rural areas and around 25% in urban areas.[2] Flint, Jackson and Benton Harbor happened here.
Myth #2
“If something goes wrong, I’ll just boil my water.”
Fact: Boiling kills germs, which is exactly why boil-water advisories exist. But boiling doesn’t remove lead or other chemicals.[3, 4] For nitrate, it makes things worse: water evaporates while the nitrate stays behind.[5] The fix depends on what’s in your water, and your AquaScore™ report is where to start.
Myth #1
“I only drink bottled water, so I’m good.”
Fact: You still cook, brush, bathe, and make your kids’ formula and ice with tap water. Bottled water has its own issues too: a 2024 Columbia University study found about 240,000 tiny plastic particles per liter on average.[6, 7] Bottled water isn’t a plan. Knowing your water is.
Sources
- U.S. EPA. LCRI Fact Sheet: Tap Sampling Monitoring Protocol (Oct. 2024).
- U.S. Geological Survey. Tap water study detects PFAS 'forever chemicals' across the US (July 5, 2023).
- U.S. EPA. Basic Information about Lead in Drinking Water.
- CDC. Drinking Water Advisories: An Overview.
- U.S. EPA. Will boiling my water help? (nitrate).
- PNAS. Qian et al., Rapid single-particle chemical imaging of nanoplastics by SRS microscopy, PNAS 121(3) (Jan. 2024).
- Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health. Bottled Water Can Contain Hundreds of Thousands of Nanoplastics (Jan. 2024).