TSA Considers Allowing PreCheck Members to Carry Full Water Bottles at CT-Equipped Airports
Why It MattersAny change would roll out unevenly across airports based on scanner and lane upgrades, mirroring the UK's patchwork liquid-rule relaxation rather than a uniform national shift.
The US Transportation Security Administration is considering letting TSA PreCheck members carry full water bottles through checkpoints at airports equipped with Computed Tomography scanners able to distinguish water from other liquids. The existing 3-1-1 rule, which limits carry-on liquids to containers of 3.4 ounces (100 ml), remains in force nationwide and would not be eliminated wholesale under the proposal.
Senior administration officials said any exemption would be limited to PreCheck passengers at airports with newer CT scanners and automated detection software, without identifying which airports would go first, and acknowledged TSA lacks sufficient equipment and funding for a nationwide rollout. The water-bottle allowance is being considered as part of a broader introduction of next-generation PreCheck lanes incorporating facial-comparison technology and 3D baggage and body scanners, with that broader rollout expected to take approximately one year.
Former Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem questioned the liquids restriction in July 2025, shortly after TSA ended the routine shoe-removal requirement, suggesting liquid-size rules could be the agency's next major change while cautioning an announcement was not imminent. TSA PreCheck has more than 20 million active members and has been adding approximately three million new enrollees per year, with new checkpoints combining AutoCAT and eGate identity-verification systems with CT carry-on scanners, automated detection algorithms, advanced body scanners and automated bin-handling systems.
Airports already operating advanced checkpoint technology include Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport, where all 23 lanes in a checkpoint redevelopment were designed for CT screening, Los Angeles International Airport, which has tested CT carry-on scanners since 2018, and Harry Reid International Airport in Las Vegas, which operates TSA's Innovation Checkpoint; none has been confirmed as an initial water-bottle location. The 3.4-ounce limit traces to the August 2006 transatlantic liquid-bomb plot, and the UK's partial lifting of its equivalent 100 ml rule at London Heathrow and London Gatwick, versus continued enforcement at Manchester and London Luton despite newer scanners, illustrates the uneven rollout that may follow in the US, where variables such as airline, terminal and checkpoint already produce differences, as at Newark Liberty International Airport where new eGates are limited to eligible United Airlines PreCheck passengers in Terminal C who have opted into Touchless ID.
