Is Our Water Safe To Drink

Long Island’s public drinking water is regarded as one of the best in the nation, meeting a long list of rigorous federal, state and local health standards.

Public suppliers collectively spend more than $2 million annually to test the water at independent laboratories several times a year for up to 250 substances. The results are reported directly to the appropriate county health department, which also conducts regular spot checks of its own.

Federal and state environmental agencies and the state and county health departments have strengthened drinking water regulations tremendously in recent years. Additionally, technical advances in sophisticated testing equipment allow substances that are as tiny as one part-per-billion to be detected in the drinking water. That’s equivalent to one second in 32 years!

Any public water supply well that is discovered to exceed the rigorous drinking water quality standards must be removed from service and corrective measures taken. When treatment is necessary, extremely effective methods such as airstripping and activated carbon filtration are used to cleanse the water and remove unwanted substances before it is sent to the public.

Long Island residents can rest assured that the public water that flows from their faucets is one of the most highly regulated supplies in the United States and safe to drink.