Alarm over the United States’ dirty water crisis continues to grow. New data reveal the scope is even more extensive than previously thought, with nearly 100 million Americans exposed to unregulated contaminants. However, bottled water is no better, and we should be working to clean up our water supply instead of bypassing it.
While needed infrastructure improvements to U.S. water systems will take time — and federal water protections face political uncertainty in late 2025 — there are concrete steps you can take right now to protect your family if your water is contaminated.
First Things First
Recent research shows that nearly 97 million Americans have been exposed to unregulated contaminants in their drinking water, with Hispanic and Black residents disproportionately affected. Additionally, 172 million people in communities across the U.S. have drinking water that has tested positive for PFAS (“forever chemicals”). Despite these concerning numbers, many Americans still have safe tap water.
Before spending money, find out how safe your community’s water is. In many cases, you will also want to test the water in your home. Some problems may only require point-of-use treatment for drinking water, while others may require point-of-entry, or whole-house, solutions. The more you know about your water, the more effective your solution will be.
Lead: A Persistent Threat
The lead pipe problem is massive. Home plumbing was manufactured using lead well into the 1980s.
As of 2024, an estimated 9.2 million households across the United States still get drinking water through lead service lines. The states most affected include Illinois, with over 1 million lead pipes, Ohio (745,000), and Florida (though experts dispute Florida’s numbers).
You can have your home’s water tested to find out if any lead is leaching into it. Contact your utility to determine the location of your supply pipes, but inspect your home for lead pipes using the EPA’s guide.
Federal Lead Pipe Rule: Current Status
In October 2024, the Biden-Harris administration issued final regulations that required the replacement of all lead service lines within 10 years. The decision represented a shift from the first Trump Administration’s approach, which slowed the pace of infrastructure replacements. The Biden rule required:
- Complete replacement of all lead pipes within a decade (by 2037)
- More rigorous testing of drinking water
- Lower action levels (from 15 ppb to 10 ppb)
- Improved communication so families are better informed about lead risks
However, the rule’s implementation faces uncertainty under the current Trump administration. In August 2025, the EPA announced that it would defend the rule against industry legal challenges, but added that it would develop “practical implementation flexibilities” — language that environmental advocates worry could create loopholes that weaken enforcement.
Additionally, Congressional Republicans attempted to repeal the rule in early 2025. However, this effort was successfully blocked in May 2025 due to public pressure.
Funding concerns: The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (passed in 2021) allocated $15 billion specifically for lead service line replacement through 2026. Major cities, including Chicago, Detroit, Milwaukee, and Denver, received substantial funding to accelerate their replacement programs. However, the Trump administration has proposed significant cuts to local water infrastructure funding, raising concerns about whether these replacement projects can continue as planned.
What You Can Do Now
Replacing lead pipes is expensive, but it is the safest and most prudent course of action. There are some federal grants to help replace residential pipes. Check with your local utility to find out if incentives or local grants are available.
In the meantime, consider purchasing water filters certified for lead removal. Look for filters with NSF/ANSI Standard 53 certification that are verified to reduce lead from 150 ppb to 10 ppb or less (or five ppb for updated standards). When lead supply lines are involved, as in Newark, New Jersey, these may be available directly from your water provider.
Running the tap to flush out water that has been sitting in pipes can help if you have a corrosion problem, but it will obviously waste a lot of water over time.
Bad Well Water
If you’re on a well, routine testing will not only inform you about contaminants in your water but also establish a record of water quality should events upstream affect your well water.
More than 23 million households in the United States rely on private wells for their drinking water. A USGS study of 2,100 private wells found that approximately one in five wells contained one or more contaminants at concentrations exceeding human health benchmarks.
In some places, as many as 90 percent of rural wells are contaminated with manure from nearby farms. A 2025 study found that fewer than 20% of well users test their drinking water as frequently as health officials recommend.
PFAS in Groundwater
New research indicates that 71 to 95 million people in the Lower 48 states may rely on groundwater containing detectable levels of PFAS for their drinking water supplies. The states with the largest populations affected include Michigan, Florida, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, New York, and Ohio.
Your health department or nearby utilities can tell you about contaminants of concern in your area. Have your well tested regularly for these contaminants.
If your water fails to meet health standards, contact your local public health department for recommendations on treatment. On-site treatment processes, such as disinfection, distillation, and filtration, are usually effective; however, always retest your water to verify that the treatment was successful. Depending on the contaminant, its concentration, and the well’s condition, you may need to switch to a new source of water.
Cleaning Up Your Taps
The treatment of your home’s water depends on the specific problem.
The CDC provides a helpful guide to selecting a water treatment system. If you choose filtration, don’t forget to maintain it — change your filters regularly. Neglected filters can make water worse.
PFAS Filtration
For PFAS contamination, which affects 165 million Americans according to 2025 EPA data, look for filters certified to NSF/ANSI Standard 53 or 58 for PFAS reduction.
PFAS regulations under review: In April 2024, the EPA under the Biden administration established maximum contaminant levels for six PFAS in drinking water—the first-ever federal standards. However, by May 2025, the Trump EPA announced it would eliminate the maximum contaminant levels for four of these compounds, retaining standards only for PFOA and PFOS. This partial rollback has drawn criticism from public health advocates who warn it will make it harder to hold polluters accountable.
Current PFAS filter certifications require systems to reduce PFAS to below 20 parts per trillion. Note that certification standards as of 2024 don’t yet align with the EPA’s lower limits of 4 ppt for PFOA and PFOS; however, reducing any level of PFAS in your water is beneficial. Check NSF’s database for certified PFAS filters.
Why Bottled Water Isn’t the Answer
You might choose bottled water while installing the fix for your water problem, but it is not a long-term solution.
Recent studies reveal that the extent of plastic contamination in bottled water is far worse than previously thought. A 2024 Columbia University study found an average of 240,000 plastic particles per liter of bottled water — 10 to 100 times more than earlier studies detected. Approximately 90% of these fragments were nanoplastics (less than 1 micrometer in diameter), with the remainder being microplastics.
These microplastics have now been detected in human blood, lungs, placentas, and other tissues. While long-term health effects are still being studied, research suggests potential risks include endocrine disruption, inflammation, and cellular damage. People who rely on bottled water ingest an estimated 90,000 additional microplastic particles per year compared to those drinking tap water.
A 2024 survey found that 83% of Americans are concerned about microplastics in their drinking water, with concern increasing 350% from 2023 to 2024.
Besides microplastic contamination, bottled water may not even be safer than tap water. It generates enormous waste, costs significantly more over time, and is often made only of repackaged tap water.
Current State of U.S. Drinking Water
Recent data shows:
- 1.1 million people in the U.S. get sick every year from germs in drinking water
- EWG’s 2024 analysis of nearly 50,000 water systems identified 324 contaminants in drinking water across the country
- 56% of Americans worry “a great deal” about polluted drinking water, according to 2024 polling
- More than 25 million Americans drink from the worst water systems in the nation
Regulatory uncertainty: As of October 2025, several federal drinking water protections remain uncertain. The Trump administration has announced plans to reconsider or roll back numerous environmental regulations, including a partial rollback of PFAS standards and potential weakening of the lead pipe replacement rule. Given this regulatory landscape, individual water filtration and testing remain especially important for protecting your family’s health.
Take Action
The bottom line: With federal water protections facing uncertainty, it’s more important than ever to take personal responsibility for your water quality. Know your water quality through testing, invest in appropriate certified filtration systems, maintain them properly, and avoid relying on bottled water as a solution. While systemic improvements to U.S. water infrastructure continue to face political and funding challenges, taking these steps can help protect the health of you and your family.
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Editor’s Note: This article was originally published on September 30, 2019, and was substantially updated in October 2025.