It’s almost natural to pinpoint lead or bacteria as typical water contaminants since they have been part of the public conversation for decades, but scientists have now begun paying attention to a different group of substances called emerging contaminants. 

It’s easy to assume nothing is wrong inside your pipes if your water looks clear and tastes normal. Most people overlook the effects of Legionella in water for exactly that reason. It’s a kind of bacteria that can build up inside home plumbing

Last Friday night, during a torrential rainstorm, a 42-inch sewer force main near Haverhill’s main pumping station failed. The pipe, which carries wastewater from the city’s main pump station to its treatment plant, dates back to the 1970s.

On June 5, 2026, residents in nearly a dozen neighborhoods in Northwest Washington DC started noticing something wrong with their water pressure. DC Water received calls from customers experiencing low to no pressure at multiple locations at the same time the Fort Reno Pumping Station was experiencing fluctuating power issues, with a full loss of power hitting at around 12:30 p.m.

No state in America has perfectly clean tap water. That is not a dramatic claim. It is simply what the data shows. Based on EPA violation data, contaminant testing, and infrastructure assessments, the states with the most documented tap water problems in 2026 are Texas, California, New York, New Jersey, Florida, Pennsylvania, Louisiana, Arizona, Wisconsin, and Massachusetts. The most common problems across these states are PFAS, lead service lines, disinfection byproducts, arsenic, and nitrates.

About 59 million Americans have access to tap water or a private well and choose not to drink it. Since just before the Flint water crisis began in 2014, the number of adults who avoid their tap water has increased by 40 percent, and among children it’s risen by 63 percent.

This past week, just ahead of Memorial Day, the Surfrider Foundation released its annual Clean Water Report. The headline number was hard to ignore. Years of neglect and underfunding have left the country with an estimated $630 billion backlog in needed wastewater infrastructure repairs and upgrades.

The EPA added microplastics to its contaminant candidate list in April 2026. No regulations yet — here’s what that gap means for your drinking water right now.