Privacy Policy
Information We Collect
PlainWater does not require account creation or collect personal information directly. We use analytics services to understand site usage:
- Page views and navigation patterns (via privacy-focused analytics)
- Device type and browser information
- Approximate geographic location (country/region level)
Your browser's light/dark theme preference is stored in localStorage, which never leaves your device. If you use Save to my list on a water-system profile, the shortlist of saved systems is also stored only in localStorage under a site-specific key (plainwater:saved) and is never transmitted to our servers.
Advertising
We display advertisements through Google AdSense. Google's DoubleClick cookie enables Google and its partners to serve ads based on your visits to this and other websites. You can opt out of personalized advertising by visiting Google's Ad Settings. You can also opt out of third-party vendor cookies at aboutads.info. For a full list of Google's ad technology providers, visit Google's ad technology providers page.
Data Sources
All drinking-water figures displayed on PlainWater are sourced from publicly available EPA Safe Drinking Water Information System (SDWIS) and UCMR5 monitoring releases. We do not collect or store personal data about water customers beyond what appears in those public registries.
Contact
For privacy-related inquiries, contact us at privacy@plainwaterdata.com.
Our Approach to Your Data
We collect only what is necessary to operate Plainwater and understand, in aggregate, how the site is used. We do not sell visitor data, do not share it with data brokers, and do not build advertising profiles of individual visitors outside the boundaries set by our advertising partners (Google AdSense). Cookies used by the site are listed in the main privacy policy above; each is labeled with its purpose and retention window.
Public Records and Personal Data
The records surfaced on Plainwater are drawn from public government datasets. These records are public by design, they exist to let citizens and regulators verify credentials, enforcement actions, safety outcomes, and other matters of accountability. We do not republish data that is not already publicly available, and we honor removal requests for records that are factually incorrect or that have been officially expunged at the source. Removal is a data-quality action, not a privacy right over lawful public records.
Your Rights
If you are a California, EU, UK, or other resident whose jurisdiction grants data-subject rights, you may request access, correction, or deletion of any personal data we hold about you (which is generally only a hashed IP address and a short server-access log). Contact requests are handled by our editorial process at the email on the contact page. We do not charge for requests, we do not require you to create an account to exercise a right, and we do not retaliate against anyone who submits a request.
Advertising, Measurement, and Your Consent
Plainwater displays contextual advertising through Google AdSense, which may set its own cookies for measurement and frequency capping. We deploy Google's Consent Mode v2, so if you decline cookies via a consent banner or privacy-first browser, Google limits its measurement to anonymous, aggregate signals. We also use a first-party privacy-preserving analytics tool (Umami) that does not track individuals across sites. If you prefer zero measurement, enable a tracker-blocker or browse privately, we will not work harder to profile you.
Download the SDWIS/UCMR5 state landscape snapshot cited on this page: sdwis-state-landscape.csv (same CSV as /statistics, CC0).
Who Publishes This
PlainWater is operated by Kiznis Studio, an independent data-engineering studio (solo-operated). Questions, corrections, and accountability inquiries can be sent to hello@plainwaterdata.com.