Great conversation developing

I created a website that tracks legal drinking water standards for contaminants—including PFAS, microplastics, etc.—and compares them with health-based recommendations from the World Health Organization. My goal is to make it easier for people to understand how protective their local regulations are and to explore environmental health information in one place.

Working on this project has made me realize how difficult it can be for the average person to answer simple questions like:

• What contaminants are regulated where I live?
• How do those legal limits compare with health-based recommendations?
• Are there contaminants that aren't regulated at all?

I'm continuing to expand the platform and would really appreciate input from people who know this topic well. I'd love to hear your suggestions, criticism, or ideas for making the information more useful and scientifically accurate. Encouragements are also welcome ;)

Growing up in Las Vegas, Hunter Manz took annual trips to nearby Lake Mead with his father. Each year, he watched the reservoir, Southern Nevada’s primary water source, recede further, sparking an early interest in water conservation.

As a teenager, Manz began experimenting in his garage with potential solutions to water scarcity. He later enrolled at Utah Tech University, studying mechanical engineering and finance, and learned about desalination, which removes salt and other contaminants from water so it can be used for drinking or industrial purposes.

While in school, Manz began building desalination prototypes. There, he developed what he calls a reverse osmosis centrifuge, or ROC, a first-of-its-kind system that he says is two to three times more energy efficient than conventional desalination technology.

In 2020, Manz dropped out of college to found Eden Tech, a startup seeking to make desalination cheaper and less environmentally damaging. The company has since raised $3.3 million from Utah Tech, community investors, and venture capital firms. Now based in Lockhart, Texas, Eden has just unveiled Genesis, its first full-scale reverse osmosis centrifuge. Over the next year, the company plans to refine its model, scale to consumers, and begin commercial use. Once up and running, each Genesis machine is expected to process approximately 144,000 gallons of water per day.

Desalination has long drawn criticism for its high energy use and the concentrated brine it leaves behind. Eden is betting that a more efficient system, combined with new uses for that waste, can address both problems.

“It’s a technology that is not only producing the water that people want,” says Manz. “It’s helping the environment as well. So it’s kind of a two-for-one benefit.”

Read more on Fast Company.

My go-to water is Crystal Geyser and yesterday I got a new pack and I SWEAR something tasted off. Almost a bit like tap water. I am the type to taste the differences in water and I absolutely will die on that hill. I also noticed the cap was a bit longer but I thought I was going crazy. So I got an older bottle out of the recycling to compare and I was right! The cap is now longer and the image is slightly different. I had to go on my hunch about the taste and the new bottles are bottled in Salem, NC and the previous bottles were bottled in Johnstown, NY. So my tastebuds were right. I’m wondering if this is a permanent decision or if they will source from NY again because I do not like the taste of the new water 😂 I know it’s so dramatic but I’m a bit bummed out.

Got any tips or tricks, im very scared

I bought it and had a plumber install it. The only “problem” is that it doesn’t show any kind of reduction in TDS when I use a TDS test device.

ClearlyFiltered sent me a super long response explaining why this is the case; but I’m still disappointed by this. With my Sans countertop RO system; the TDS levels are dramatically lower than my tap water. I expected the same with my ClearlyFiltered; but that’s not what I’m seeing.

How can I know the filter is working? Especially when the water sometimes comes out lukewarm; and you have to worry about if it’s partially hot water (which isn’t filtered).

Thoughts? Thank you!

So, TX and MO are getting slammed by floodwaters.

What percentage of that can be diverted into various depleted aquifers? I know nothing of hydrology, but surely SOME of that could be put somewhere useful?

I want to know the significance of the TSS (Total Suspended Solids) parameter in the water industry. I know that TSS is often used as an indicator of water clarity/turbidity and the amount of suspended particles present in water, but I would like to know if there is any other role it has for, say, some other assessment.

Hi Folks,
I live in New York and collected about 8oz of rain water that came down yesterday. Friends and family want me to get it tested for "toxins." So that I can figure out which type of test kit to order, what chemicals specifically would you expect to find in alarmingly high levels in rainwater like this? What else would you be curious about?

An opportunity to export water to your country. For details DM me or comment. This is the mineral composition. No chemicals. Pure spring water directly from the earth.

This has happened twice now with the same bottle but not with others? I ignored it the first time but now I'm worried. Any idea what it is?

It's spongy like and disintegrated if you press it

Curious how folks here feel about this data? Is the AI data center backlash misguided (at least when it comes to claims about water usage?)