Every American deserves access to safe, affordable drinking water that is free of harmful chemicals and contaminants. But with water crises like those in Flint, Michigan, Newark, New Jersey and elsewhere, it’s clear that more needs to be done. Consumer Reports (CR) has a long history of fighting for cleaner drinking water beginning in the 1970’s. In 1974, CR published a landmark three-part series on the safety of the United States water supply, which played a key role in encouraging Congress to pass the Safe Drinking Water Act.
More than 45 years later, America is still struggling with a dangerous divide between those who have access to safe and affordable drinking water and those who don’t. CR continues to be at their side in the fight. Communities of color often are affected disproportionately by this inequity. Today, Consumer Reports remains committed to exposing the weaknesses in our country’s water system, including raising questions about Americans’ reliance on bottled water as an alternative and the safety and sustainability implications of this dependence.
In 2020, CR investigated the presence of risky heavy metals and PFAS chemicals in bottled water. The organization tested 47 bottled water brands and found measurable levels of PFAS in 43 of them. Even though these chemicals have been linked to multiple health problems, the EPA has no enforceable limits for PFAS in drinking water. CR and many experts believe the cutoff for total PFAS levels should be one part per trillion. Yet CR’s analysis revealed that several bottled waters exceeded that threshold.
CR launched an integrated campaign via earned, owned, shared and paid media to raise awareness. It also launched an online petition urging the International Bottled Water Association to adopt a more stringent standard for PFAS.
In 2021, CR partnered with The Guardian to conduct another investigation--this time focusing on the nation’s tap water. The organizations collected 120 samples from people across the US and found measurable levels of PFAS in 117. More than 35 percent exceeded a safety threshold that CR scientists and other health experts believe should be the maximum.
CR again launched a coordinated campaign to push for action, urging consumers to join CR in asking the Biden Administration to set stronger tap water standards.
Our goals were clear. We sought to inform consumers about the potential hazards in their drinking water and bottled waters. In addition, we provided people with actionable tips to protect themselves, including a guide on how consumers can test and treat their drinking water, and we highlighted the fact that consumers have safer choices in the bottled water aisle that don’t have elevated levels of toxic chemicals.
But CR doesn’t believe it should be up to consumers to fix this problem. That’s why we also sought to mobilize consumers to put pressure on federal regulators to set more stringent limits for harmful chemicals in the nation’s water supply. Similarly, we sought to pressure the bottled water industry to set lower limits for harmful PFAS chemicals.
As a result of our 2020 bottled water investigation, we learned that the companies whose bottled water contained the highest PFAS amounts in our tests had installed water filtration systems to reduce levels of contamination.
Our 2021 drinking water investigation generated widespread earned media coverage and helped shape the national conversation on water justice. Through our efforts we reached a potential audience of more than 2.5 billion people through stories in Bloomberg, The Hill, The TODAY Show, CBS Miami and, of course, Consumer Reports and The Guardian.
More than 62,000 people joined the fight and signed CR’s “Get ‘forever chemicals’ out of bottled water!” petition. Another 57,000 signed CR’s “Demand Safe Water!” petition.
In 2021, the U.S. House of Representatives passed the PFAS Action Act, which would require the Environmental Protection Agency to swiftly enact limits on some PFAS chemicals in drinking water and declare them hazardous substances, a move that would require the cleanup of contaminated sites across the country.
