Quick Drips

The chlorine you can smell in a glass of cold tap water is a deliberate safety net, carried through miles of pipe on purpose. Here is what the residual is doing, what EPA limits it to, and where a filter honestly fits.

A water notice can say your system exceeded the trihalomethane standard and that this is not an emergency, both at once. Here is how the running annual average works, why the notice arrives late by design, and why boiling makes it worse.

Tap water carries chlorine on purpose, and a ferment is a bacteria project. Three numbers, one question to ask your utility, and a job-by-job guide to the water in every jar this harvest season.

Coffee is more than 98 percent water. What the SCA water standard targets, why chlorine flattens the cup, and how a certified filter gets you closer.

Each summer many US utilities briefly switch from chloramine to free chlorine, so tap water can smell like a swimming pool. Here is why it happens, whether the water is safe to drink, and how to reduce the taste.