Happy Hump Day, Shit Givers.
It’s 2026 and we still have nine million lead pipes delivering water into American homes. PFAS (forever chemicals) have been detected in drinking water nationwide.
And despite some recent rulings that clean water isn’t a constitutional right, we’re calling bullshit because…it shouldn’t be controversial to say that everyone deserves access to clean water.
Let’s go.
— Willow
APL Positions covered this week:
🚰 Replace all lead pipes (learn more)
🏫 Lead-free water in all schools (learn more)
🧪 PFAS maximum contaminant levels enforced (learn more)
💧 Permanent low-income water assistance (learn more)
🚧 Wastewater infrastructure in rural communities (learn more)
🏘 Disadvantaged community water systems upgraded (learn more)
👉 NEW: Dive into the metrics and evidence behind all of our APL Positions here.
Out of the pipes
Those nine million lead pipes still in the ground are disproportionately found in lower-income communities and communities of color, and there’s an active push in Congress to make it worse (because of course there is).
Here’s what you can do:
Tell Congress to Oppose H.J. Res. 18, which would strip the EPA’s lead and copper drinking water protections (go).
Tell lawmakers to support the FLOW Act, which finances lead pipe replacement nationwide (go).
Support the People’s Water Board Coalition’s fight for clean, affordable water as a human right (go).
Forever isn’t a selling point
PFAS chemicals show up in water, soil, and your bloodstream. They’ve been linked to cancer, thyroid disease, and immune problems, and most of the country still has no legal limit on how much is allowed to come out of your taps.
Here’s what you can do:
Water you can afford
Clean water infrastructure is expensive, and right now, the bill mostly falls on the communities least able to pay it: rural systems without a tax base, and low-income households already choosing between water and rent (what a time to be alive!).
Here’s what you can do:
Tell lawmakers to pass the WATER Act, expanding access to clean, affordable drinking water (go).
Tell Congress to help low-income households afford their water bills (go).
Push for more funding for water and wastewater systems in rural communities (go).
Support community-led water solutions in California with Community Water Center (go).
Back Orange County Environmental Justice’s Communities Organizing for Better Water initiative (go).
Right from the source
A lot of the actual on-the-ground water protection work (testing, monitoring, suing polluters) happens at the watershed levels, river by river, lake by lake.
Here’s what you can do:
Protect the Hudson River watershed with Riverkeeper, the founding org of the waterkeeper movement (go).
Keep Miami’s water safe to drink, swim, and fish in with Miami Waterkeeper (go).
Help preserve the Great Lakes and the freshwater future generations need with the Alliance for the Great Lakes (go).
Explore a career in water with the AWWA Career Center (go).
That’s it for this week.
Thank you — as always — for giving a shit.
— Willow
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