Worried about your water? How to get started assessing it - and what to do next

"A few years back, my wife and I received an ominous yet nonchalant letter from our town, alerting us to the presence of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances in our drinking water. After an embarrassingly long time trying to sound out the words like toddlers in preschool, we were able to boil the message down to its essence: There are chemical substances in the water, more of them than we'd like, and we're working on it. Super. Thanks for the heads up."

"By now, a lot of us are familiar with the acronym PFAS to shorten the alphabet soup of the per- and polyfluoro flavor of molecules. If not, you might be aware of their code name: "The Forever Chemicals." We'll save the deep dive on PFAS for a future research study, and I'll hold the update on our personal saga until the end of the article, but some recent findings from research firm Habitelligence suggest that we're not alone in our water struggles."

"Out of a sample of 576 households spread evenly across the country, the research shows that the presence of known water issues -- those warranting notification by a government agency, public utility, or other authority -- varies among regions. While only one in 10 from the Pacific and Mountain West region cited problems, more than a third of Southwest households had been notified of issues with their water."

One in five households has known water issues. More than 60% of households have never had their water tested. PFAS (per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances), often called "The Forever Chemicals," are present in some drinking water supplies. A national sample of 576 households shows regional variation: roughly 10% of households in the Pacific and Mountain West reported problems, while over one-third of Southwest households received notifications about water issues. About 15% of respondents rely on private wells. Water quality depends heavily on location, environmental factors, and the water source, prompting many homeowners to invest in whole-home treatment systems.

Read at ZDNET