06/10/2026
- Know Your At-Home Water Quality:
- Public Water Sources: If your tap water comes from a public utility, the utility must issue a public report every year by July 1st. This report is called a Consumer Confidence Report (CCR). The report includes where your water comes from and what’s in it. Visit your water supplier’s website or look up the CCR on EPA’s website here. You can also test your tap water at home for harmful contaminants.
- Private Water Sources: If your tap water comes from a well, once a year, test your water quality. The AAP recommends testing private wells every year for coliforms, nitrates, pH, and total solids. They recommend testing every 3 years for chemicals and every 5 years for solvents or other tests recommended locally. Families should also test their water if there is flooding, change in water taste, odor or appearance, or if the family has other concerns. Families can call or email their local or state water authorities to learn more about testing their home ‘s water.
- Improve Your At-Home Water Quality:
- You may want to install an at-home water filtration or treatment system, or use a portable water filter to remove certain germs or chemicals. There are systems that can treat your whole home, or ones that can treat only your kitchen sink, or only your bath or shower water.
- If you live in a community with unsafe water or are concerned about your water quality, use a water filter that is NSF certified. This type of filter removes harmful contaminants, including PFAS. Use pre-mixed baby formula or mix it using filtered water. The AAP also recommends testing private wells in other circumstances:
- if it is a new, repaired, or reconditioned well,
- if there is a newborn in the household,
- unexplained illnesses in all family members,
- recent changes in land use (e.g., new septic systems, new industry, new construction, data centers, fracking),
- known changes in your neighborhood or county in the quality of the groundwater.
- Keep Your Family Safe
- Families living in flood-prone areas should store adequate supplies of drinking water at home. This is in case a flooding event disrupts the usual sources of safe water. A 3-day supply is recommended for families planning to evacuate and a 2-week supply is advised for those who would plan to shelter-in-place. FEMA advises that usage should be calculated at 1 gallon per person per day.
- Check your local fish advisories before eating locally sourced fish or seafood or wild game.
- Be Careful While Traveling, Hiking or Camping
- If you don’t know if your water is safe while traveling, camping, or hiking, it’s best to treat it before drinking it. To kill bacteria, boiling water is best. You can also use portable water filters. Boiling water or using portable hiking water filters will not remove harmful contaminants such as lead, arsenic, or PFAS.
- Avoid using hot water from a tap while traveling, as it is more likely to contain lead.
- Check Local Alerts Before Swimming
- Look for local signs posted about the water quality before swimming in a river, lake, or ocean. Avoid water that appears cloudy or dirty.
- Nationally, EPA has a database that shows water quality on beaches. Environment America Research & Policy Center also has a Safe for Swimming dashboard. For people in California, the state has a Safe to Swim map.
- Wait 3 days after a heavy rainfall to swim. Ensure you are swimming at least 150 feet from a storm drain to avoid run-off.
Type: Children's Health Issue: Water QualityInfo For: Families & CommunitiesPEHSU: National PEHSUExposure Pathway: Water