💧 Aqua
Water.
The one ingredient in everything.
It is first on almost every label you own, and it is the only ingredient you also drink by the litre. Here is what is actually in it — in plain English, from the bodies that publish the numbers.
Check your city's water.
Every community water system in the US has to publish an annual Consumer Confidence Report — what they tested for, and what they found. Most people have never seen theirs. Put in a ZIP code and we will take you straight to it.
| What's in it | EPA limit | What your utility reported |
|---|---|---|
| pH | 6.5–8.5 | In your report, often listed as a range |
| Lead | 0.015 mg/L action level | Reported as a 90th-percentile figure |
| Chlorine (disinfectant) | 4.0 mg/L | Reported as a running annual average |
| Fluoride | 4.0 mg/L | Reported if added or naturally present |
| PFOA / PFOS (PFAS) | 0.0000040 mg/L | Only if your system has tested for it |
| Hardness (minerals) | No federal limit | Often reported voluntarily |
Limits above are the federal values published by the EPA, checked 13 August 2026. The measured figures live in your utility's own report.
Read the limit next to the measurement.
A number under a legal limit is a number under a legal limit. That is a fact about the rule — not a verdict about your water, and Klaeri does not turn it into one.
The types of water, explained.
What each one is, and who regulates it. There is no "best" here — they are different things, answering to different rulebooks.
Tap
Treated water piped from a community system. Tested on a schedule set in federal rules, and reported to you once a year.
Regulated by the EPASpring / mineral
Bottled from an underground source, keeping the minerals it arrives with. "Mineral water" is a defined term, not a marketing one.
Regulated by the FDA, as a foodDistilled / reverse osmosis
Put through a process that removes very nearly everything — including the minerals that give water its taste.
FDA as bottled · NSF for home unitsAlkaline
Water with a higher pH, either naturally or by treatment. What the higher pH does in the body is a separate question — see below.
FDA, if sold bottledSparkling
Carbonated. Dissolved CO₂ forms a weak acid, so sparkling water is mildly acidic by definition — that is the fizz, not a fault.
Regulated by the FDA, as a foodFiltered
Tap water run through a filter at home. What comes out depends entirely on what the filter is certified to reduce.
Certified to NSF/ANSI standardsWhat shows up in water — and who says what.
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Minerals (hardness) EPA · secondary standard
Mostly calcium and magnesium picked up from rock — the scale in your kettle. There is no federal health limit for it. The EPA's related standards are guidelines about taste, colour and odour, and the EPA says plainly it does not enforce them. EPA secondary standards ↗
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Chlorine EPA · maximum residual disinfectant level
Added to keep the water free of microbes all the way to your tap. The EPA sets a maximum residual disinfectant level of 4.0 mg/L, and a goal at the same figure. EPA primary regulations ↗
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Fluoride EPA limit · CDC on fluoridation
Naturally present in some water and deliberately added by many systems. The EPA sets an enforceable limit of 4.0 mg/L; the CDC is the body that publishes on community water fluoridation itself. CDC on fluoridation ↗
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Lead EPA · action level
Lead does not usually come from the source; it comes from pipes and fittings between the main and the tap. The EPA's action level is 0.015 mg/L, and the goal is set at zero. The EPA's 2024 Lead and Copper Rule Improvements lower that action level to 0.010 mg/L. EPA Lead and Copper Rule ↗
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PFAS — "forever chemicals" EPA · national limits
A large family of manufactured chemicals that break down very slowly. The EPA has set enforceable national limits for several of them, including 0.0000040 mg/L — four parts per trillion — for PFOA and for PFOS. EPA regulations & contaminants ↗
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Microplastics WHO
Very small plastic particles, now found in water supplies around the world. The World Health Organization published a report on microplastics in drinking water in 2019 and continues to review the evidence. WHO on microplastics ↗
pH, explained.
How acidic or how alkaline something is, on a scale from 0 to 14. Seven is neutral. Lower is more acidic — lemon juice, vinegar, fizzy drinks. Higher is more alkaline.
The shaded band is 6.5–8.5, the range the EPA gives for pH in drinking water.
Worth knowing
That range is a secondary standard, which the EPA states it does not enforce. Secondary standards exist for aesthetic reasons — taste, colour, odour — rather than as health limits. EPA secondary standards ↗
Klaeri's position
On alkaline water. The claim is that raising the pH of what you drink changes the pH of your body. We will show you what a named body has published, and we are not going to tell you it works or that it does not.
No regulator has set a health standard for alkaline water. If that changes, this page changes, and the date will say when.
Filters — what they're certified for.
"Filter" is not one thing. The useful question is never "is this a good filter" but "what is it certified to reduce" — and that is written on the box, as an NSF/ANSI number.
Carbon
The type in most jugs and fridge filters. NSF/ANSI 42 covers aesthetic effects — chlorine, taste and odour, particulate.
NSF/ANSI 42 · aesthetic effectsCarbon, health-effects rated
The same technology tested against a harder standard. NSF/ANSI 53 covers contaminants with a health effect, and carries more than fifty separate reduction claims.
NSF/ANSI 53 · health effectsReverse osmosis
Pushes water through a membrane that very little gets past, usually with other filters either side of it. Certified under NSF/ANSI 58.
NSF/ANSI 58 · reverse osmosisWorth knowing
A certification covers a specific claim, not the whole box. A filter certified under 42 for chlorine has not been tested for lead unless it also carries 53. Check the claim, not the badge. NSF on water treatment standards ↗
Find it. Or test it yourself.
What Klaeri holds, and what it doesn't
The federal limits on this page are the same for everyone, so we show them. The measured figures for your own system are the half we do not hold.
Until every one of those is real and dated, this page sends you to the official report rather than showing you a number we cannot stand behind.
Educational only, not medical advice · we explain, you decide · federal limits checked 13 August 2026