Boulder pilot — 200 founding members — summer 2026
Worker-owned cooperative. Filtered water, kombucha, and functional beverages in glass growlers — refilled by neighbors, priced below retail, and HSA/FSA-eligible with a physician letter. The neighborhood station replaces the plastic bottle habit.
Reserve your founding spotThree product lanes
Water
Free with membership. Refill at any cooperative station. Included in $19–29/mo — daily, unlimited.
Kombucha + functional beverages
$1–3/L versus $4–6/L retail. Growler refill at neighborhood stations. Postbiotic add-ins for chronic-inflammation support.
Postbiotics + functional add-ins
§213(d) eligibility routed through ComfortCard. A physician LMN makes it a prescription-class purchase — paid pre-tax.
Why this
Bottled water drinkers ingest up to 90,000 more microplastic particles per year than people who drink filtered tap water. A single liter of bottled water contains an average of 240,000 nanoplastic particles. Your brain is up to 0.5% plastic by weight.
We didn't build a luxury water brand. We built a cooperative that refills your glass.
EPA & CDC data — what's actually in municipal tap water
The EPA's National Primary Drinking Water Regulations set Maximum Contaminant Levels (MCLs) for over 90 contaminants. “Safe” means below those limits — not zero. Here's what's commonly present, what it does, and what actually removes it. Filter claims vary widely; look for NSF/ANSI certification on the label, not marketing copy.
| Contaminant | Source | Health concern | Removes it |
|---|---|---|---|
| PFAS (PFOA, PFOS) | Manufacturing, firefighting foam | Cardiovascular, immune, liver effects; potential cancer risk. EPA MCL: 0.000004 mg/L. | Reverse osmosis (94%+ reduction). Activated carbon (certified only). Boiling does nothing. |
| Lead | Corroding pipes and fixtures in older homes | Developmental delays in children; kidney and blood pressure problems in adults. No safe level for children. | NSF/ANSI 53-certified pitcher or under-sink filter. Reverse osmosis. First-flush flushing helps but doesn't eliminate. |
| Chloramine (disinfectant byproduct) | Added by utilities as treatment | Eye and nose irritation, stomach discomfort, anemia at high exposure. Standard carbon struggles with chloramine. | Catalytic carbon (specific type — not all carbon). Reverse osmosis. Standard pitcher filters often insufficient. |
| Trihalomethanes (THMs) | Chlorine reacting with organic matter in water | Long-term exposure linked to increased cancer risk. EPA MCLG: 0. | Activated carbon (certified, NSF 53). Reverse osmosis. Boiling concentrates, not removes. |
| Nitrates | Fertilizer runoff, septic systems | Blue-baby syndrome in infants under 6 months — life-threatening. MCL: 10 mg/L. | Reverse osmosis. Ion exchange. Carbon filters do not remove nitrates. |
| Arsenic | Natural deposits, agricultural runoff | Skin damage, circulatory problems, increased cancer risk. MCL: 0.01 mg/L. | Reverse osmosis. Activated alumina. Standard carbon does not remove arsenic. |
| Nanoplastics | Plastic bottle breakdown, infrastructure | 1 liter of bottled water contains ~240,000 nanoplastic particles (2024 Columbia/Rutgers study). Brain tissue accumulation documented. | Reverse osmosis removes most. Standard carbon: limited data. Glass containers eliminate the bottled water source. |
Entry level
Standard pitcher filter (carbon)
$20–60 + $50–100/yr replacement
Removes: Chlorine, some VOCs, sediment. Improves taste and odor.
Doesn't remove: Does not remove PFAS, lead, nitrates, arsenic, fluoride, or nanoplastics.
Look for NSF/ANSI 42 or 53
Best broad-spectrum
Under-sink reverse osmosis
$200–600 installed + ~$50/yr filters
Removes: 94%+ of PFAS, lead, arsenic, nitrates, fluoride, TDS. Broadest contaminant removal.
Doesn't remove: Wastes 3–5 gallons per gallon produced. Removes beneficial minerals — some add remineralization stage.
NSF/ANSI 58 — required for PFAS claims
Mid-range
Whole-house catalytic carbon
$1,000–4,000 installed
Removes: Chlorine, chloramine, some VOCs. Treats every tap.
Doesn't remove: Does not remove PFAS, heavy metals, nitrates, or TDS at useful levels.
NSF/ANSI 42
Mid-range
Countertop ceramic + carbon
$100–300
Removes: Sediment, chlorine, some bacteria (ceramic stage), VOCs. No waste water.
Doesn't remove: Limited PFAS removal. Performance depends heavily on specific media and certification.
NSF/ANSI 53 for health claims
HSA/FSA eligibility for water filtration
Water filtration systems are not automatically HSA/FSA eligible. A physician Letter of Medical Necessity documenting a specific condition — chemical sensitivity, immune compromise, medically required mineral intake — can establish §213(d) eligibility. Eligibility is then determined by your plan administrator, not the physician alone. Confirm before purchasing. The fillforward cooperative filters are pre-treated, remineralized glass water — not sold as medical devices.
Your refill, one year out
Set how many single-use bottled drinks you go through in a week. See a year of switching to a neighborhood glass-growler refill — in particles, in plastic, and in dollars.
The functional add-ins go further.Postbiotic and functional beverage add-ins can become pre-tax under IRS §213(d) with a physician’s Letter of Medical Necessity — routed through ComfortCard. Eligibility is decided by your plan administrator.
Illustrative estimates, rounded, for one person over one year. Microplastic figure based on published research (~240,000 particles per liter of bottled water; ~0.5 L assumed per drink) and is provided for information only — not medical advice. Dollar savings use representative retail and cooperative refill prices and will vary. §213(d) HSA/FSA eligibility for functional beverages requires a Letter of Medical Necessity and is determined by your plan administrator, not by fillforward.
Part of the cooperative pension
fillforward is a cooperative health service embedded inside the same network as co-op.care aging care, ComfortCard HSA optimization, and physician-supervised clinical services. Every layer is owned by its members.
Boulder pilot — 200 founding members — launching summer 2026
Disclaimer: fillforward is a pre-launch cooperative under development. No products are currently available for purchase. §213(d) HSA/FSA eligibility for functional beverages requires a Letter of Medical Necessity from a licensed physician; eligibility determinations are made by your plan administrator, not by fillforward. Microplastic statistics cited reflect published research and are provided for informational purposes only — they do not constitute medical advice. Joining this waitlist does not create a membership, contract, or cooperative equity interest.