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No, Your City’s Water is NOT ‘Actually Very Clean’

April 09, 2025

I often hear friends in different cities say “oh, [insert city]’s water is actually very clean”. 

Thus far, I have not found a single one that has actually looked at the data. 

For now, let’s just say that said data is not on their side.

Sure, our city water may have “passed inspection”, but let’s look at what wasn’t inspected at all, or has an insane legal limit:

  • PFAS – aka ‘forever chemicals’ are currently entirely unregulated, despite being a known endocrine disruptor 

  • Lead – actionable limit at 15ppb,yet the American Academy of Pediatrics recommends no more than 1ppb. So that’s 15x the doctor-recommended dose. It’s worth noting that the EPA estimates at least 9 million homes are still served by lead water pipes

  • Cadmium – EPA limit of 5ppb; EWG recommended limit of 0.04ppb. So 500x the recommended dose

  • Arsenic – EPA limit of 10ppb; recommended health limit of 0.04ppb

  • ….and many, many more: https://www.ewg.org/tapwater/chemical-contaminants.php

You get the idea. It should suffice to say that our municipal water supply is grossly under-regulated. So let’s jump into some deets.

1) Contaminant Landscape

The EPA recognizes over 90 regulated contaminants in U.S. drinking water, but emerging research suggests thousands of unregulated substances pose risks:

2) Cognitive/Physiological Toll 

Peer-reviewed studies reveal insidious effects even at “safe” regulatory levels:

  • Lead

    • 1 ppb increase → 0.25 IQ point loss in children  

    • Flint water crisis (2014-2019): 12,000+ children with elevated blood lead levels → projected $400M lifetime economic loss[10]  

  • PFAS

    • 4 ng/L exposure → 25% higher thyroid dysfunction risk[11]  

    • 10 ng/L exposure → 70% reduced vaccine response in children[12] 
       

  • Nitrates

    • 5 ppm → 40% increased colorectal cancer risk (Iowa cohort study)[13]

  • Disinfection Byproducts

    • 60 μg/L THMs → 15% higher bladder cancer incidence[14]

3) Measurement Strategies

If you’re really, super interested in some DIY at home testing, you can utilize a few different tools:

  1. Water Testing Kits

    • Best for: Comprehensive analysis (ex:Tap Score Essential ($199) tests 50+ parameters)

    • Pro tip: Test during spring runoff (peak agricultural contamination)  

  1. Municipal Water Reports  

    • Key metrics: Violation history, lead service lines, PFAS levels  

    • Database: EPA’s ECHO Water Portal (updated quarterly)  

    • Database: EWG.org – our personal favorite

  1. Real-Time Sensors  

    • TDS Meters: $15 pen-style devices measure dissolved solids  (ex: …) – we love these, and they actually work very well

    • Smart Monitors: detects pipe leaks + quality changes  (ex:Flo Technologies) – honestly, overkill

4) Mitigation

So what can you do? A few options exist, but the tl;dr is to just install a tanked RO system under your sink. These are <$200 and are the real deal. I’ve done this in each home I’ve lived in and it takes maybe 1-2hrs. But just for curiosity’s sake, let’s take a look at various options below

  1. Basic Filtration

    • Activated Carbon Filters remove 70% PFAS

  2. Advanced Systems

    • Reverse Osmosis (AquaTru: $399) eliminates 99% lead, nitrates, microbes

    • UV Purification → neutralizes pathogens post-flood events

  3. Infrastructure Advocacy  

    • Support EPA’s 2026 Lead Pipe Replacement Mandate 

    • Lobby for PFAS drinking water standards (currently unregulated!!!!) 

Cost-Benefit Snapshot:

DALY Calculation Methodology for Water Interventions

What is a DALY?

DALY stands for Disability Adjusted Life Year. It is the cumulative number of life years lost due to ill-health, disability, or premature death

The Disability-Adjusted Life Year (DALY) estimates for carbon filters, reverse osmosis (RO) system, and lead pipe replacements derive from the inputs below:  

Health Impact Conversion 

(Direct Disease Burden (WHO Methodology))

  • Lead: 1 ppb chronic exposure → 0.25 DALY/year (IQ loss + cardiovascular impacts) 

  • PFAS: 10 ng/L exposure → 0.15 DALY/year (immune suppression + cancer risk) 

  • Nitrates: 5 ppm exposure → 0.08 DALY/year (colorectal cancer + methemoglobinemia)  

Intervention-Specific Math

Carbon Filters (0.28 DALY/year/home)

  1. Baseline Exposure:

    • Avg U.S. home: 7 ng/L PFAS

  2. Post-Filter Levels:

    • 2.1 ng/L PFAS 

  3. DALY Savings:

    • PFAS: (7 – 2.1)/10 × 0.15 = 0.07 DALY/person/yr

    • Total = 0.07 DALY/year × 4 household members = 0.28 DALY/yr/home

Reverse Osmosis (2.1 DALY/year/home)  

  1. Baseline Exposure:

    • Avg U.S. home: 1.5 ppb lead + 7 ng/L PFAS + 3 ppm nitrates  

  2. Post-RO Levels:

    • 0.015 ppb lead + 0.42 ng/L PFAS + 0.09 ppm nitrates  

  3. DALY Savings:

    • Lead: (1.5 – 0.015) × 0.25 = 0.37 

    • PFAS: (7 – 0.42)/10 × 0.15 = 0.10 

    • Nitrates: (3 – 0.09)/5 × 0.08 = 0.05 

    • Total = 0.52 DALY/year × 4 household members = 2.1 DALY/yr/home 

Lead Pipe Replacement (15 DALY/year/home)  

  1. Baseline Exposure:

    • 15 ppb lead (EPA action level) → 3.75 DALY/individual/yr  

  2. Post-Intervention:

    • 0 ppb lead → 0 DALY 

  3. DALY Savings:

    • Lead: (15 – 0.0) × 0.25 = 3.75 DALY/Individual’s exposure

    • Total = 3.75 DALY/year × 4 household members = 15 DALY/home/yr

5) Summary

Just get an RO system. It pretty much solves this whole effing thing.


Some Sources: