TapGraded was founded and is built by Max, a software engineer with 20 years of professional experience building data-driven systems and websites. Max designed and runs the entire pipeline behind the site: the loaders that ingest EPA's SDWIS, ECHO, and UCMR5 releases, the database they land in, the rubric code that computes a Tap Grade for every active US community water system, and the pages you read.
The work is data engineering, not water testing. TapGraded is not a laboratory, a government agency, or a water-treatment company, and it does not test water. Every figure on the site is computed from the original federal releases by one published, reproducible rubric — the same deductions, caps, and thresholds for every system — so any grade can be checked back against its EPA source.
Max holds a Bachelor's degree in Software Engineering and a Master of Arts in Linguistics. Earlier career work included technical writing and interpreting in industrial settings and several years in international procurement of industrial equipment and materials.
Regulatory statements — MCL values, the lead action level, PFAS rule status — are verified against EPA primary sources and cited on the page where they appear. Posts are informational and are not health, legal, or engineering advice.
Background
- BSc Software Engineering
- MA Linguistics
- 20 years building data-driven systems
How the work is checked
Authority on this site comes from transparency, not titles. Every Tap Grade is computed from public federal data by one published rubric, so anyone can reproduce it:
- The full grading rubric, with a worked example, is on the methodology page.
- Every dataset, with its license and refresh cadence, is listed on data sources.
- What TapGraded is, and its editorial & correction policy, is on the about page.
Elsewhere
Contact
Questions, corrections, or data disputes: contact@tapgraded.com.