It’s been called “the champagne of tap water.”
The H2O coming through New York City’s pipes is so clean, in fact, that NYC is one of the only major US cities that doesn’t use filtration.
If you get your hydration right from the tap, you know it just tastes good — and it’s been said it’s at least partly responsible for why our bagels are superior.
So when Culligan gave us the chance to try out their at-home water testing kit — which looks for contaminants like lead, copper and arsenic as well as forever chemicals — we jumped at the chance to find out for ourselves: How healthy is New York City’s tap water, really?
Testing for forever chemicals
Collecting the samples at my Manhattan apartment was was super easy — though it was actually for two tests, one covering contaminants and another that looks for PFAS, also known as “forever chemicals.”
Earlier this year, a study found that 97 million Americans are exposed to these forever chemicals through their tap water.
PFAS have been linked to a bunch of health concerns including reproductive issues, an increased risk of cancer, reduced immunity, higher cholesterol, higher obesity risk and developmental effects in children.
And the bad news? New Yorkers aren’t totally shielded while sipping our on-tap champagne.
“We identified one compound: PFBA, which stands for Perfluorobutanoic acid,” Culligan’s lab manager Maria Mozdzen explained, going over our test results. “We found that to be at 2.2 parts per trillion.”
That’s higher than EWG [Environmental Working Group]’s health guidelines, which are set at one part per trillion. The EPA doesn’t yet set limits on PFAS in water.
So how bad are these results, really?
It turns out… not that bad at all. Culligan had tested for 55 PFAS compounds.
“I think your municipality is doing a great job,” Mozdzen said.
Though PFBA was identified, it was “very lower level” in the sample tested. Mozdzen noted that I may still want to address it — like with a PFAS filtration system — depending on my comfort level.
“If this was me or my household, I would definitely want to protect myself from it,” she said.
Forever chemicals can also be found in a load of other products we use, from cookware to makeup. Scientists have been on the hunt for ways to limit our exposure — even if it’s bit by bit.
It’s important to note, though, that this test captured a single point in time — and what’s found in the water can change slightly throughout the year.
Dr. Eric Roy, Culligan’s Head of Science, said that New York City does a “really good job” of conducting different types of tests, so their results have shown variability.
They have found, at times, the presence of another forever chemical that wasn’t in my sample, PFOA. (That was also only at about 2.1 parts per trillion — so higher than the EWG recommends, but not particularly high.) If I were to test again in a few months, I might have a different result.
What else is in the water?
That covers forever chemicals, but what about all of the other stuff that could be dripping out of our faucets? According to Culligan’s test, we’re doing even better in that department.
Of the 42 different things they tested for, not a single one was detected above the national standard limit — including the total amount of minerals, which at 61.89 mg/L was well below the EPA’s limit of 500 mg/L.
Even better, about half weren’t even above the minimum detection level. Those include lead, copper, iron, magnesium, arsenic, cadmium, chromium, silver, uranium and nitrate.
The others all had levels below the national standard limit, including calcium, magnesium, silica, sodium, potassium, aluminum, chloride, fluoride, sulfate and bicarbonate.
“It’s actually great water,” Mozdzen said. “I’m on Lake Michigan, and I like to think we’re on good water, but nothing compared to you.”
About that lead measurement…
Dr. Roy stressed once again that this is just a snapshot — and in fact, a 2023 report by the NYC Coalition to End Lead Poisoning found that about 21% of residents may be drinking water delivered via lead service lines, which could contaminate the water with lead.
Even low levels of lead exposure can have a serious health impact. For adults, that could be nerve disorders, high blood pressure, reproductive issues, muscle and joint pain, and memory problems, according to the EPA.
For kids, it can slow growth, cause headaches, create hearing problems — and even lead to lower IQ, brain damage, and learning and behavioral issues.
Unfortunately, lead contamination can enter your water at a lot of different points along its journey. While NYC’s source water from the Catskill/Delaware watershed and the Croton watershed doesn’t have lead, it can leach in through the service line or even your home’s internal plumbing.
Older cities, in particular, are more likely to have lead service lines, and older internal plumbing is more likely to have lead, too.
If you live in an apartment building, there’s not a whole lot you can do. But Mozdzen has one tip that can help you guard more against lead exposure.
When you wake up in the morning and pour your first glass of water from the sink — wait a beat.
“Let that water run 30 seconds and then start using it,” she said. “What I found — and I look at tons of lead results — it’s the first draw in the morning that’s the problem. It’s not necessarily like down the line… It’s just when the water stays stagnant in the in the fixture.”
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