Water Quality

The Safe Drinking Water Act covers more than 90 contaminants — right up until the water crosses onto your building's property. After that, nobody's testing anything.

Most of the world worries about pathogens in water. We worry about parts per trillion. Both are real problems — but knowing which one you have changes what you should do about it.

The biggest fear-based talking point in my industry doesn't hold up — and the honest case for better office water is stronger without it.

Drinking water compliance is built on annual averages and 95th percentiles — which is good policy and still tells you almost nothing about what came out of the tap in your breakroom last Tuesday.

The water in your office cooler jug and the water in your building's pipes are regulated by two different federal agencies under two different rulebooks — a distinction that rarely comes up when the water order gets placed.

California wrote one of the first regulatory definitions of microplastics in drinking water. Everywhere else, the word doesn't legally mean anything yet — and that's the whole problem.

One of the largest PFAS datasets ever collected in the U.S. finished sampling. Most people responsible for a building still haven't looked up their own numbers.

EPA is proposing to pull back standards for four PFAS chemicals while Europe's broader rules phase in — and your office breakroom sits on the wrong side of that split.

The EPA schedules lead sampling for the warm months on purpose — and the building you work in almost certainly wasn't on the list.

EPA kept the 4 parts per trillion limit but gave water systems two extra years to hit it — and your office breakroom is the one waiting.

Recent USGS data reveals widespread PFAS contamination in American tap water — and most offices have no idea what's in their water.

The EPA's 2027 PFAS monitoring starts soon, but most offices have no idea what's coming.

Spring runoff is real, but it hits lake-fed cities like Milwaukee, not Madison's 500-foot wells. What Madison offices actually notice in April is hydrant flushing and chlorine. Here is what each one is, with the utility's own numbers.

The EPA gave water systems three years to comply with new PFAS standards — most offices have done nothing.

EPA is studying microplastics in drinking water while your office pours from plastic bottles all day.

The summer-algae, winter-chemistry story is real for Racine and Milwaukee, which drink Lake Michigan. Madison drinks 50°F well water that never sees a lake. What changes here by season is which well you're on, how much chlorine survives the trip, and how much road salt has reached the aquifer. Sourced from the utility's own documents.

New drinking water rules are hitting thousands of offices, and most don't even know it yet.

EPA's landmark PFAS drinking water standards are working, but most offices are still pouring the same contaminated water they did in 2024.

EPA's new PFAS drinking water standards take effect in 2029, and most offices have no idea what's coming.

Apple's water report is genuinely impressive. But most companies don't need 28 pages and a UN citation to fix their water problem. They need to look at their breakroom.

PFAS, microplastics, and the stuff nobody thinks about when they fill up at work. Here's what's in the water and what you can do about it.