Anomaly of the Week: Phoenix, AZ Water Score Drops 31pts
Category: Score Drop | Newsworthiness: 84/100 | Affected population: 1,695,000
Water safety in Phoenix, AZ (ZIP 85002) has declined sharply — the composite score dropped from 81 to 50 (grade: D) over the past 30 days, affecting 1.7 million residents served by the local water system.
Key Data Points
- Score drop: 31 points in 30 days
- Current grade: D (score: 50)
- Population served: 1,695,000
What This Means
This anomaly was flagged by ZipCheckup's automated monitoring system, which scans EPA SDWIS data, enforcement records, and water quality trends across 29,218 ZIP codes daily. A newsworthiness score of 84 places this in the top tier of detected events.
Residents in ZIP 85002 should:
- Check their full safety report at zipcheckup.com/report/85002
- Review recent water quality notices from their local utility
- Consider water testing if they haven't tested in the past year
Also This Week
| Headline | Category | Score | Affected |
|---|---|---|---|
| Las Vegas, NV Water Safety Score Drops 28 Points in 30 days | Score Drop | 83 | 1,539,277 |
| Tucson, AZ Water Safety Score Drops 28 Points in 30 days | Score Drop | 82 | 732,906 |
| PFAS "Forever Chemicals" Exceed EPA Limits in Bala Cynwyd, PA — 1.6 million Affected | PFAS Contamination | 82 | 1,600,000 |
Data Sources
- https://zipcheckup.com/report/85002/
- https://zipcheckup.com/data/
- ZipCheckup Methodology
- EPA SDWIS Database
Auto-generated on 2026-03-30 from ZipCheckup monitoring data. This post is produced by an automated pipeline that selects the most newsworthy environmental anomaly each week based on newsworthiness scoring of 6,018 candidates. No editorial judgment is applied — selection is purely data-driven.