A new place to connect I just published my first note on Substack Notes, and would love for you to join me there! Some of my followers are already there. Come on in and join the fun! Notes is a new space on Substack for us to share links, short posts, quotes, photos, and more. I plan to use it for things that don’t fit in the newsletter, like work-in-progress or quick questions. How to join Head to substack.com/notes or find the “Notes” tab in the Substack app. As a subscriber to Mostly Water, you’ll automatically see my notes. Feel … Continue reading Join me on Notes

The companies selling us filters to remove “forever chemicals” from our drinking water are the ones who put them there. We recently installed an under sink reverse osmosis system1, mostly to improve the taste of our drinking water and to limit scaling in tea kettles and coffee machines. Our water comes from a community well. The water has tested below State detection limits for PFAS (per- and polyfluorinated alkyl substances, commonly known as “Forever Chemicals”), and is chlorinated and treated for arsenic, iron, and manganese. It remains hard water that scales tea kettles, smells of chlorine, and still contains a … Continue reading They have us coming and going

Is PFAS from toilet paper contaminating our drinking water? A new study published this week was showed that toilet paper is a major contributor to PFAS in wastewater. Rural Washington State relies heavily on septic systems for sewage treatment and on ground water wells for drinking water. In voluntary testing of public water systems in Washington State, PFAS compounds have been detected in about 10% of them. Could PFAS from our toilet paper be showing up in our drinking water? Scientists at the University of Florida recruited volunteers from around the world to collect and send in samples of toilet … Continue reading About that Toilet Paper

John Lovie: Jan Holmes Costal Volunteer of the Year I’m reluctant to post things about myself, particularly when it’s good news, but as about half the readership of this blog had something to do with this award coming my way, I’m going post this as a big thank you! This is as much about the relationships I’ve built along the way as it is about the work. The truth is that one could not have happened without the other. Thank you, all of you, for reading this and for caring about the issues I write about. Here’s an article about … Continue reading A big thank you!