Summaries and educational materials (toolkits, handouts, infographics, etc.) are publicly available resources, and the full scientific reports are free for Water Quality Association (WQA) members.

 ​If you are not a WQA member, please contact foundation@wqrf.org to inquire about access to the full report(s) of interest. 

The Contaminant Occurrence Map contains water quality data over the last 10 years for 57 different drinking water analytes in the United States
Interactive Mapping Tool  l  Summary Presentation
Contaminant Level Occurrence Above the MCLG (regulated contaminants): ​Executive Summary​​, Full Report 
Aesthetics Level Occurrence Study (hardness, iron, pH, manganese, disinfection residuals): Executive Summary, Full Report
Phase 2A Report (Alkalinity, chloride, corrosivity, LSI, nitrate, nitrate-nitrite, orthophosphate, total phosphate, and sulfate): ​Full Report
Phase 2B Report (1,4-dioxane, Cr6, PCE, Uranium, radium, calcium, magnesium, radon, strontium): Full Report

Sustainability Comparsion Study

This study examined point-of-use (POU) and point-of-entry (POE) devices in comparison to improvements to existing centralized systems for Safe Drinking Water Act compliance using a triple bottom line analysis.
Final Report
Executive Summary
Handout​

Predictive Modeling Study

The Predictive Modeling Study collected and assessed all available and relevant water quality data to generate a model that describes the most likely future drinking water contamination events over the next 5-10 years.
Final Report
Executive Summary
​Infographic

Emerging Contaminant Consumer Study

This independent study was performed by researchers from the University of Wisconsin system in June 2021, to gauge the American public’s knowledge of emerging contaminants in drinking water.
Final Report 
Executive Summary
​Infographic

Emerging Contaminant Removal and Microbial Growth in POU Membrane Filtration and Activated Carbon 

Dr. Zhou at Purdue University investigated the removal efficiencies of 3 PFAS chemicals, Manganese, Uranium, and Legionella by POU RO and activated carbon. A second objective was to evaluate the effects of water quality and microbial growth on removal of these emerging contaminants.
Handout
Executive Summary  l  Full Report

Cost Benefits of Point-of-Use Devices in Reduction of Health Risks

Calculated the associated healthcare and other disease burden costs from illness caused by contaminants in drinking water compared to cost of implementation of point-of-use water treatment devices, including a case study of Flint, MI.  
​Executive Summary  l  Full Report 
Handout - Lead     l   Handout - Microbes
Journal of Water and Health Publication
Environmental Research Publication

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 Standardized Test Protocol Development

A co-funded research undertaking at Virginia Tech resulted in the development of a standardized scaling test protocol for the evaluation of scale reduction devices and technologies. The  study developed a protocol that can be repeated in any laboratory to evaluate the performance of scale reduction technologies/devices.
Environmental Engineering Science Publication
Publication PDF Version

Boil Water Notices in the United States

The first comprehensive database of the cause for boil water notices (BWN) issued by public water systems in the U.S.
Executive Summary
Toolkit 
Full Report 

Household POU Filters: Tools for Long-term, Large Volume Monitoring of Tap Water Quality and Human Health Risks
​
​​This study demonstrated a proof of concept using point-of-use filters as a method for monitoring tap water quality over long time periods in lieu of grab-samples.
Executive Summary 
​ Full Report

Reduction of Effluent Chloride to
​Wastewater Treatment Plants

Study compared the chloride discharge to controls for neighborhoods that optimized existing water softeners and neighborhoods that replaced equipment with high-efficiency rated systems.
Final Report 
Electronic Toolkit

Peak Water Demand Study

Data co-funding effort resulted in a statistically based probability model that would predict the peak water demand for single and multi-family dwellings having water-conserving plumbing fixtures.
​​Report
Water Demand Calculator

Counterfeit Refrigerator Filter Study

The purpose of the study was to investigate if counterfeit filters illegally using a manufacturer’s logo passed testing requirements of certification claimed made.
Full Report

National "Deep Dive" Water Quality Study

The objectives of this study were to gather information that would help focus the scope of future WQRF research and to educate the public on point-of-use and point-of-entry technologies.
Report

Water Softener Effects on Septic System Performance

This study was undertaken to investigate the effect home ion-exchange water softeners may have on the performance of onsite septic tanks. 
Executive Summary 
​Full Report

Surrogate Study for VOCs

Laid the ground work in NSF/ANSI standards for carbon filter manufacturers to test effectiveness for chloroform and claim effectiveness for 53 regulated synthetic organic chemicals.
Full Report 

Softened Water Benefits Studies

Executive Summary l  Two-page Summary of the studies

Energy Saving Study
Conducted by ​Battelle Memorial Institute

Focused on efficiency improvements in household water heaters from the use of softened water, and the subsequent effect on performance of fixtures. 
Full Report

Dishwasher Study
Conducted by ​Scientific Services S/D, Inc. 

Quantified the relative effects of hardness and detergent dosage to show savings possible by softening hard water.
Full Report

Laundry Study
Conducted by Scientific Services S/D, inc. 

Compared the effects of detergent dose, water hardness and wash temperature on the stain removal performance of five household laundry detergents. 
​Full Report

Leaching of Metals from Household Plumbing Materials: Study of the Impact of Home Water Softeners

The results demonstrated that there is no link between softened water and corrosion. This U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Study, funded by WQRF, provided scientific support that ion exchange water softening does not affect the corrosivity of water.

Septic Tank/Water Softener Studies

This 1978 research report combines the scientific data from several studies to evaluate potential effects of water softeners on septic systems.
Full Report
Executive Summary ​

Water Softeners as Energy Conserving Investments

The purpose of this study was to measure and quantify differences in energy consumption of household water heaters installed and operated on hard versus softened water supplies.
Report