Editorial Standards

WaterByCounty makes source-specific public records easier to compare without presenting county aggregates as a current utility, address, tap, private-well, health, or engineering determination.

The ByCounty Editorial Team is the shared publishing function responsible for maintaining the network's source standards, data-processing rules, automation disclosures, corpus validation, and corrections process. It does not represent a panel of licensed subject-matter experts, and individual site methodologies define the limits of each publication's analysis.

WaterByCounty is operated as a distinct publication within ByCounty Network and uses this organization as author without asserting an employee count, credential, or individual sign-off.

Published statistics originate in EPA SDWIS, EPA ATTAINS, EPA Water Quality Portal, and USGS NWIS records. Source windows and extraction receipts are stated on the methodology page. WaterByCounty does not assign a blanket legal or licensing status to every contributing record.

Deterministic code performs ingestion, normalization, aggregation, relative ranking, absolute band assignment, and source-fact summaries. Automated validators check model invariants, cohort parity, data provenance, identity, and prohibited claims. Sampled output may be inspected for quality assurance; the accepted current county observations are functions of source fields.

Refreshes are snapshot-based, not promised on a fixed schedule. A new snapshot is published only after source, compiler, parity, identity, and corpus checks pass. A failed or incomplete record is suppressed rather than filled with an estimate or unsupported conclusion.

A potential error is compared with the cited primary record and processing path. Confirmed data errors are fixed in the source artifact or compiler; presentation errors are fixed in code or copy. The result is republished through the verified build. Material methodology changes are recorded in an actual build receipt or changelog; this policy does not promise a per-page correction log.

Google AdSense display advertising may fund WaterByCounty. Advertisers do not control source selection, models, county coverage, or published conclusions. The publication does not accept sponsored statistics as replacements for source records.

The current site has zero current verified public affiliate recommendations. A future product must have an exact model and ASIN, a valid checked date, HTTPS evidence URLs, and a nonempty supported claim scope before public access. Potential partners do not control the data publication.

The publication is informational and does not replace a utility notice, Consumer Confidence Report, laboratory result, public-health authority, engineer, hydrogeologist, or other qualified professional.

The contact page identifies the publisher and the information needed to evaluate a discrepancy. Readers may submit correction reports and editorial feedback to editorial@waterbycounty.com. The mailbox was delivery-tested before publication.