Plastic Water Habits

Plastic Water Habits

Despite growing environmental awareness, Americans are still hooked on plastic bottled water, according to a fresh Aquasana survey of 1,447 U.S. adults. A whopping 33% drink bottled water daily and another 23% several times weekly, even as concerns about microplastics hit record highs (83% of Americans now worry about them). The bigger picture is sobering: Americans purchase nearly 50 billion plastic water bottles annually (yes, billion with a “b”), with 60 million landing in landfills or nature every day, all while recycling rates remain below 5%. Aquasana's GM Derek Mellencamp points to this data as an opportunity for dealers, noting home filtration systems that remove microplastics offer consumers both health benefits and environmental relief in one solution.

Maine PFAS Testing in Private Wells

Maine legislators are tackling the PFAS problem head-on with three new bills targeting private well testing and public water regulations. The first bill would add forever chemicals to Maine's recommended private well testing panel and provide free testing for low-income residents through an existing lab fund, avoiding last year's budget roadblock. The second proposal would require landlords to test rental property wells for PFAS (alongside existing arsenic requirements) and disclose results to tenants within 10 days. And the third bill aims to establish maximum PFAS levels for smaller public water systems serving schools and businesses, though it faces opposition from the Maine Water Utilities Association for potentially creating compliance confusion amid new federal EPA standards announced last year. With over half of Mainers relying on unregulated private wells, the stakes are high.

Portland’s Water Quality Sampling

Portland Water Bureau is using a dating app-themed campaign to highlight their extensive water quality testing network. The utility maintains 102 active sampling stations throughout the city, where staff test for temperature, chlorine levels, pH, turbidity, and conductivity. Each station is visited at least every two weeks, with crews checking 15-17 stations daily, four days a week—resulting in nearly 3,000 bacterial samples annually. These modest green boxes with water faucets get annual maintenance each spring/summer, with crews using blowtorches to sanitize taps before collecting samples. The playful campaign educates residents about the rigorous testing that ensures their drinking water remains safe while making infrastructure maintenance more relatable.

Boroux vs Berkey: A Data-Driven Comparison

Water Filter Guru Brian Campbell recently put gravity filters Boroux Legacy and Big Berkey under the microscope, discovering they're actually manufactured by the same company (Clearbrook) but designed to address different needs. Campbell's testing shows Berkey slightly outperforming overall (8.02 vs 7.96), primarily because its PF-2 filters remove fluoride while Boroux currently lacks this capability. However, Campbell notes Boroux fixed many of Berkey's design headaches with stainless steel spigots, better seals, and an NSF 372 lead-free certification. Lab testing revealed tradeoffs: Berkey leached aluminum from its filters while Boroux leached small amounts of cobalt. Both share identical filtration rates (0.75 GPH), the same frustrating hour-long filter priming process, and similar price points ($359 for 3-gallon Boroux vs $367 for 2.25-gallon Berkey).

What else is happening:

• Utah’s local news ABC 4 posts a sponsored piece for Royal Plumbing, Heating and Air promoting their free water testing

• Aquasana releases a guide on how to filter microplastics, promoting their filtration systems as a solution

• CT-based ClearWater Industries posts an article all about Legionella prevention and overviews monitoring and testing strategies

• SpringWell asks and answers: is whole home water filtration worth the cost?