Drinking Water

What’s at stake? 

Safe drinking water is largely taken for granted in America, but it should not be. Water quality problems plague many communities across the country. Decades of neglect and disinvestment in drinking water infrastructure jeopardize public health. Governmental data confirms that PFAS “forever chemicals” are found in water systems serving up to 105 million people, along with lead contamination, industrial pollution, and agricultural runoff. Water infrastructure itself is also vulnerable to extreme weather and historic flooding, leaving communities without safe water for weeks. 

And race and income matter when it comes to safe drinking water. Communities where people of color make up higher percentages of the population or where average incomes are lower are more likely to have drinking water systems in violation of the law and to experience an inadequate response to the violations.   

How is NRDC making a difference

NRDC has stood with community and environmental justice partners to protect drinking water at the local, state, and national levels for decades, achieving some notable wins over the years. NRDC’s scientific research in partnership with community-level advocates is advancing a data-driven picture about who is impacted by this crisis while humanizing the issue and building momentum to propel policy solutions at both the state and federal levels. 

NRDC has successfully advocated for and is now defending rules requiring the removal of lead pipes across the United States within the next 10 years.  

 We have developed model state legislation, such as the gold standard “filter first” method of installing fixtures with filters to remove lead from drinking water in schools and day-care facilities, and we’ve filed litigation or legal petitions seeking the cleanup of lead in tap water in cities from Flint and Benton Harbor in Michigan to Newark, New Jersey. And this U.S.-based work on lead has more recently expanded to our environmental health mission in India.  

Drinking water is a dominant source of PFAS “forever chemical” exposure. NRDC has challenged federal efforts to reverse legal protections from PFAS in drinking water. Our advocates also promote policies that would reduce the use of PFAS chemicals, require their cleanup, establish regulations to protect drinking water sources from additional contamination, and identify a new standard for treatment that will remove the broadest range of PFAS from drinking water. Our drinking water must be affordable, so we also advocate for policies that improve affordability while maintaining accountability for the provision of safe drinking water.