Drinking water quality · 2024
· Verified
· PWSID NY0100189
What's in Albany, NY tap water
Only 6 of 27 core regulated contaminants were reported for Albany, NY. What was measured is not clean — but most of the picture is missing.
- !2 contaminants at or above a federal limit — worst is Turbidity at 9.3x
- !6 of 27 core regulated contaminants reported — 21 never appear in this report
- ✓No open federal violations
+How this score is calculated
Every system starts at 100. Points come off for measured levels, for the federal violation record, and for how much of the core regulated set the utility actually reported. All three inputs are the utility's own published numbers and EPA's own records.
- −49 contaminants at or above a federal limit
- −0 contaminants within 20% of a limit
- −0 open health-based violations
- −0 open monitoring / reporting violations
- −0 health-based violations resolved in the last 5 years
- −20 core regulated contaminants never reported (6/27)
A 90–100 · B 80–89 · C 70–79 · D 60–69 · F below 60. A system reporting under a third of the core set is capped at C however clean its numbers look — a short report is not a clean bill of health.
Full grading methodology, constant for constant →What to worry about
- Turbidity9.3× the federal limit0.08–9.28 NTU · limit 1 NTU
High turbidity can shelter microbes from disinfection; the EPA enforces it through a treatment-technique standard.
higher than 90% of U.S. systems
- Lead1.1× the federal limit0.01612 mg/L · limit 0.015 mg/L
There is no safe level of lead; it harms brain development in children and raises blood pressure in adults. The EPA sets an action level, not a health goal above zero.
Higher than 95% of NY systems that report it · higher than 95% of U.S. systems
+19 contaminants were measured and came in below the limitShow all
| Contaminant | Measured | Federal limit |
|---|---|---|
| PFOS | 2 ng/L | 4 ng/L |
| Chlorine | 0.66–1.6 mg/L | 4 mg/L |
| PFOA | 0.68 ng/L | 4 ng/L |
| Gross Alpha | 0–1.2 pCi/L | 15 pCi/L |
| Barium | 0.0036 mg/L | 2 mg/L |
| Chloride | 21.4–27.6 mg/L | — |
| Sulfate | 4.77–7.13 mg/L | — |
| Calcium | 17 mg/L | — |
| Iron | 3.07–50.8 | — |
| Sodium | 14 mg/L | — |
| Perfluorohexanoic acid | 0.46 ng/L | — |
| Perfluoropentanoic acid | 0.32 ng/L | — |
| PFBA | 0.68 ng/L | — |
| Alkalinity | 41.2–50.8 mg/L | — |
| Color | 1–8 | — |
| Hardness | 42.9–57.8 mg/L | — |
| Odor | 1–3 | — |
| TOC | 1.48–1.99 mg/L | — |
| Gross Beta Particle Activity | 0–1.8 pCi/L | — |
What this report doesn't tell you
21 of the 27 contaminants a community water system normally reports do not appear anywhere in Albany, NY's data. Absent is not the same as absent-from-the-water — it means nobody published a number.
+Full detail: PFAS testing, water source, historical monitoring, and the federal violation record
Where your water comes from · EPA SDWIS
Albany, NY's drinking water comes from surface water, drawn from 2 sources.
Source
- BASIC CREEK RESERVOIR
- ALCOVE RESERVOIR
Treatment
- FEURA BUSH WTP
- LOUDONVILLE UV SYSTEM
Distribution
Compliance history
Federal Safe Drinking Water Act violation & enforcement records (EPA SDWIS). A violation is a regulatory determination by the state or EPA — separate from the measured levels above.