It’s clear that people don’t use water as we did in the past. Concerns about water shortages and environmental impacts have led to increased awareness of water efficiency and quality. In fact, I’m having a leak detec-tion system installed in my own home in the next few weeks.

However, according to the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), plumbing codes have not kept pace with the shifting demand, therefore water quality may be suffering. Current codes for plumbing systems within buildings are based partly on data generated nearly 100 years ago, NIST notes. So to help researchers close the knowledge gap and update codes, NIST has produced a list of high priority research needs.