New survey explores how much Americans trust their tap water

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New survey explores how much Americans trust their tap water

When it comes to drinking water, many Americans are feeling uncertain. A new nationwide survey commissioned by Leaf Home reveals that while most households rely on tap water in some way, widespread concerns remain about safety, taste, and quality.

This report uncovers how people really feel about their tap water, from trust and testing habits to the actions they’re taking to feel safer at home. The results point to a growing desire for water quality control, but also a need for more education and better public understanding.

Methodology

This survey was conducted on July 16, 2025, using Pollfish and a nationally representative panel of 1,200 U.S. adults. Respondents included people from across the country, all of whom own or live in a home where they are responsible for water usage. All percentages below are rounded to the nearest hundredth.

Concerns About Nation’s Tap Water Widespread

Trust in America’s tap water is mixed at best. Just 20% of respondents said they “totally trust” their tap water, while 43% said they “somewhat trust” it. The rest were either unsure (7%) or did not trust it at all (30%).

Meanwhile, concerns about tap water are far more common than confidence. Over 64% of people surveyed said they’ve had concerns either occasionally or frequently. Only 9% said they’ve never had any concerns at all. Surprisingly, about 34% of respondents said they believe their tap water is worse than when they were growing up, compared to 25% who think it has improved.

Leaf Home

Top Concerns of Tap Water

Americans’ worries about their tap water have shifted dramatically over the past year. In Leaf Home’s 2024 Better Water Together Report, contaminants (20%) led the list of concerns, followed closely by hard water (19%), with far fewer people pointing to taste (16%) as their top issues.

The 2025 survey tells a different story. Taste is now the number one concern for nearly half of respondents (47%), while worries about harmful contaminants, such as lead, PFAS, and bacteria, climbed to 45%. Hard water concerns also rose to 23%, but it now trails behind taste and contaminant fears by a wide margin.

Leaf Home

Other worries remain top of mind as well. Thirty percent of respondents flagged health risks, while 22% mentioned unpleasant odor, and 21% cited color or cloudiness. Awareness of microplastics is growing, too, with 16% listing it as a concern. Even personal care plays a role—about 11% said the way their water affects skin and hair is a major issue.

Leaf Home

Water Filtration Widespread, Targeted at Top Concerns

Given these concerns, it’s not surprising that most Americans have turned to filtration. About 63% of respondents said they currently use a water filter at home. This breaks down into 40% always and 23% sometimes. Another 27% said they’re considering it.

Only 10% had no plans to use a filter, and fewer than one-third of people drink unfiltered tap water.

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Top Motivators of Water Filtration

What’s driving Americans to filter their water? In most cases, the motivators line up almost exactly with their concerns.

The top reason is safety: 68% said they filter their water to remove harmful contaminants. Taste was a close second at 58%, followed by the desire to protect family health at 52%.

Other motivators include preventing limescale or mineral buildup (19%), improving smell (17%), or reducing irritation to skin and hair (11%).

Leaf Home

Learn more about the benefits of filtered water and how water contamination symptoms can show up at home.

Most Common Types of Water Filtration

How Americans filter their water has changed significantly in just one year. In the 2024 Better Water Together Report, bottled water was the leading choice at 73%, followed by refrigerator filters (50%) and pitcher-style filters (41%).

Leaf Home

By 2025, those numbers look very different. Pitcher filters, like Brita or PUR, are now the most common option at 31%, with refrigerator filters close behind at 27%. Bottled water use dropped sharply to just 17%, which is a dramatic decline that reflects a shift away from single-use plastic bottles, which 69% of people relied on in 2024.

Meanwhile, 21% of respondents said they don’t filter their home’s water at all, suggesting some households are either accepting unfiltered tap water or relying on other sources. Other options, like faucet-mounted filters (16%), under-sink systems (9%), and whole-home filtration (12%), round out the mix.

Parents Concerned About Tap Water for Children’s Health

Parents in particular expressed deep concern. Among households with children under 18, 71% were concerned about the safety of tap water for their kids. Among these, 36% said they were either extremely or somewhat concerned about how safe their tap water is for children in the home.

Their top actions? Using a water filter (26%) and buying only bottled water (20%). Some also stopped giving unfiltered water to children, got their water tested, or installed a whole-home system.

Research shows that contaminants like lead and PFAS can have more serious effects on young children. Parents looking to protect their families may want to explore options like whole-home water filtration or learn how to read a local water quality report.

Leaf Home

More Education Needed Regarding Water Safety

Despite widespread concern, there’s still a big gap in public awareness and education around tap water issues.

Social Media, News Stories Having Limited Impact

National headlines about water crises often spark conversation, which can lead to action. 45% of respondents said they had changed their water habits due to a news story.

While social media content is also widespread, it doesn’t have as much of an impact on actual behavior. 16% of respondents said that social media made them concerned, but it didn’t lead them to change anything. Only 15% said social media caused them to change their behavior, such as starting to filter water, stopping drinking tap water, or switching filtration methods.

Leaf Home

Lack of Home Water Testing

This may be the most surprising gap of all: Despite all the concern, many Americans still don’t know what’s in their water. In the 2024 Better Water Together Report, 63% of respondents said they had never tested their water.

Leaf Home

The 2025 survey shows progress. That number has dropped to 54%, meaning more homeowners are taking steps to check their water quality. Still, only 10% have tested their water in the past year. Testing remains relatively inexpensive, yet many people continue to rely on filters or bottled water without ever confirming what’s actually in their supply.

What These Results Tell Us

Americans are concerned about what’s coming out of their taps, and those concerns are evolving. The year-over-year data shows people are becoming more proactive about their water quality. More households are testing their water, bottled water dependency is falling, and many are turning to filtration or even accepting tap water as safe enough to drink.

At the same time, worries about taste and harmful contaminants have grown sharply, signaling that people are paying closer attention to what’s in their water and how it affects their health.

This survey highlights a few key takeaways:

• Taste and contaminants are the top tap water concerns.
• Filtration is common, but testing is not.
• Parents are especially worried about kids’ safety.
• More education is needed to bridge the gap between concern and action.

This story was produced by Leaf Home and reviewed and distributed by Stacker.