Aquasana’s 7th Annual Water Quality Survey Reveals Americans are Increasingly Concerned About Microplastics and PFAS

The annual Aquasana Water Quality survey explores Americans’ knowledge, habits, and concern when it comes to their drinking water. Our goal is to shed light on important water quality issues and help guide people toward trustworthy and effective filtration solutions.

Encouragingly, public awareness of filtered water as the most trustworthy source of drinking water has grown steadily over the past seven years. In 2025, 59% of U.S. adults ranked filtered water as their top choice — up from 50% when we began polling in 2019.

This upward trend signals a shift toward cleaner, safer drinking water in American homes.

Lead remains Americans’ top water quality concern in 2025, with 26% of people naming it their most worrisome contaminant — up from 24% in 2024. Close behind, 23% chose bacteria, cysts & viruses, holding steady from the prior year. These contaminants have consistently remained in the top two spots since 2020, but we’ve seen fluctuations in other contaminants — most notably a significant increase in concern over PFAS and microplastics this year that pushed them to the #3 and #4 spots, respectively.

PFAS, short for per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, are synthetic chemicals that were used in products like non‑stick cookware, food packaging, stain‑resistant fabrics, and firefighting foams. While some PFAS compounds have been phased out in this country over rising health and environmental concerns, these chemicals are still present in the U.S. through imported products, older household goods, and legacy contamination.

Nicknamed “forever chemicals” because they don’t break down, PFAS have been found in over 99% of the population and linked to serious health risks including cancer, thyroid disorders, liver and kidney damage, developmental issues in children, and weakened immune function. Not to mention, PFAS also persists in the environment contaminating soil, ground water, and wildlife.

Concern about PFAS is rising rapidly. In 2025, 11% of U.S. adults identified PFAS as their top water contaminant concern, up from 10% in 2024, moving it from the 5th to the 3rd most concerning contaminant. While that may not seem like much, consider that back in 2020 only 3% of Americans marked it as their top concern — indicating nearly 4x growth in concern over the last 5 years.

As we’ve often found in previous surveys, increased concern usually correlates with increased awareness. To that point, our data from this year indicates that 54% of Americans are at least somewhat familiar with PFAS in water, up from 49% last year. Furthermore, 82% of Americans expressed concern about the potential presence of PFAS in their homes, up from 80% last year.

Still, with nearly half of Americans unfamiliar with PFAS, there’s a clear need for ongoing education and accessible resources on how to reduce exposure.

Microplastics are tiny plastic particles under 5 mm (about the size of a sesame seed) that come from the breakdown of everyday items like plastic bottles, bags, food containers and packaging, clothing fibers, and personal care products with microbeads. As these materials degrade, microplastics enter rivers and lakes via rainfall and runoff. Household activities like laundry and showering also contribute by washing microfibers and microbeads down the drain and into the municipal water supply.

Microplastic contamination is more widespread than many realize. In fact, 94% of U.S. tap water samples have tested positive for microplastics. Bottled water also has a significantly higher concentration of microplastics than tap water, but we’ll touch on that shortly. Though research is ongoing, it’s currently estimated that the average person consumes about a credit card’s worth of microplastics each week, and consumption has been linked to cardiovascular problems, reproductive issues, and gut inflammation, among other health effects.

General awareness about microplastics is growing, as 63% of Americans reported being at least somewhat familiar with the contaminants, up 3% YoY from 2024. This aligns with increased media coverage and public dialogue around emerging contaminants in both tap and bottled water.

Again, we’ve often found that increased awareness correlates with increased concern, and in relation to rising awareness about the contaminant, 83% of Americans expressed concern about the presence of microplastics in their drinking water. In fact, 10% of U.S. adults listed it as their top water contaminant concern in 2025 — spiking +400% from just 2% in 2023 — moving microplastics from 8th to 4th place on the list of top concerns.

Although 8 in 10 Americans say they are concerned about microplastics, our survey continues to show public trust in bottled water — signaling a need for education about its safety.

In the 2025 survey, 34% of respondents selected bottled water as the most trustworthy source of clean drinking water — down from 41% in 2019. While this decrease suggests growing awareness and concern over the potential safety issues with bottled water, more than one-third of Americans still view it as the most trustworthy option.

Additionally, 56% of people reported drinking bottled water on a regular basis — with 33% consuming it daily and 23% admitting to a few times per week. This continued reliance on bottled water persists even though our survey found that 66% of adults are aware that bottled water may contain microplastics.

Notably, the concentration of microplastics in bottled water is 2,125% higher than tap water, and it’s the top source of microplastics entering our bodies. For context, bottled water contains 94 microplastic particles per liter compared to just 4 per liter in tap water. This is because microplastics can leach from bottles and caps during manufacturing, sealing, and degradation as it’s stored. Additionally, bottled water is not subject to the same regulations as public water supplies.

While trust in bottled water has declined and two-thirds of Americans are aware that it may contain microplastics, the majority of the population still consumes it regularly. This may be an indication that people aren’t fully aware of the sheer volume of microplastics that can be found in bottled water compared to filtering their own drinking water at home.

Clean water isn’t just a preference — it’s a priority for longevity. According to our latest survey, 80% of Americans believe that drinking cleaner, filtered water is key to living a longer, healthier life — up from 76% in 2024. In fact, survey respondents ranked hydration as more important for longevity higher than adequate sleep, maintaining a healthy weight, mental health and stress management, access to healthcare, and social connections with friends and family.

This growing awareness highlights a deeper understanding of the connection between hydration and long-term health.

Both tap and bottled water can contain hidden contaminants, but only one offers a real solution. While there's little you can do to improve the quality of bottled water, tap water can be transformed with a trusted filtration system — giving you control and an added layer of protection right at home.

Aquasana features award-winning under sink water filters capable of removing up to 99.99% of 90 contaminants to provide cleaner, healthier, and better-tasting water from the tap. You can also opt for a whole house water filter to provide filtered water from every faucet throughout your home.

The 7th annual Aquasana Water Quality Survey revealed growing concern over the emerging contaminants known as PFAS and microplastics in our homes and drinking water. While public trust in bottled water has declined over the years, more than half the population still consumes it regularly — a disconnect that indicates a clear need for consumer education and action.

Still, it’s encouraging to see that across the country, people understand that filtering your tap water at home is the most trustworthy source of clean drinking water overall, and the percentage of Americans who rank it as such continues to increase over time. Installing a water filter is an easy and effective way to instantly improve the overall health and wellness of a home. To promote healthy hydration, we stand committed to helping bridge knowledge gaps when it comes to water quality issues and providing high-performance filtration systems that are tested and proven to tackle harmful contaminants including lead and other heavy metals, PFAS, microplastics, arsenic, bacteria and viruses, pesticides, herbicides, pharmaceuticals, and many more.

The findings presented in this article are the result of a March 2025 study of 1,147 U.S. adults, conducted by Aquasana. (Confidence Level: 95%, Margin of Error: 3%)