(Un)Well Water

Plastic bottle with rust-colored tap water

Melissa and Chauncy Easterling first discovered that something was wrong with the well water that fed their Jolo, W.Va., home in late 2016. Neither they nor their local health department could pinpoint the cause. “It had a real strong odor to it, and then it started looking kind of red, like it was rusty,” Melissa…

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Water Systems: The Invisible Infrastructure

Mason jars with yellow tap water

Most Americans don’t think twice about the ability to turn on a tap and have clean, safe water pour out. “Water is something we take for granted,” says Glenn Barnes, associate director of the Environmental Finance Center at the University of North Carolina School of Government. “We just assume we’re going to turn on the…

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