Kings County, NY Water Quality

About Kings County water

How water works in Kings County

Kings County is coextensive with a New York City borough, so nearly every home and business here is on the city's public water system — private wells are essentially nonexistent. The density of older housing, however, means interior plumbing and service lines are the main local water-quality variable.

Here, tap water is unfiltered surface water from the protected Catskill/Delaware and Croton watersheds upstate, disinfected and treated with UV — one of the largest unfiltered surface supplies in the world, run by the New York City Department of Environmental Protection (DEP).

Your provider

Water system providers in Kings County

In Kings County, water is supplied by the New York City Department of Environmental Protection (DEP). One address can still fall within more than one system, so confirm the provider on a recent bill or with the official lookup tools below.

Water systems (federal records)

Community water systems serving Kings County

Federal EPA drinking-water records list 1 active community water system serving Kings County, together reported to serve about 8,271,000 people. The largest are shown below (by population served). Click a PWS ID for that system's federal report.

Source: EPA Safe Drinking Water Information System (SDWIS), pulled July 2026. Population and connection figures are SDWIS-reported estimates. This lists community systems only — it excludes private wells and transient systems. Confirm the exact system for an address on a water bill.

Compliance

Violations and notices in Kings County

Of the 1 community water systems serving Kings County, federal EPA records show 1 with at least one health-based violation on record over the years. A violation can range from a monitoring/reporting lapse to an exceedance that has since been resolved — open a system's federal report (linked in the table above) or its current Consumer Confidence Report for the specifics and current status.

Water characteristics

What Kings County water is typically like

New York City's surface supply is naturally soft to moderately hard and low in minerals. Because it is unfiltered, the city manages it through watershed protection rather than a filtration plant. Lead is not present in the source — where it appears, it comes from service lines and interior plumbing in older buildings.

Regional patterns are a general guide only — hardness, iron, and other traits vary by specific system and well. Your CCR (or a well test) is the authoritative source for your address.

Reported contaminant levels

New York City System — reported levels (2025 report (2024 data))

Selected regulated contaminants from this system's official Consumer Confidence Report. "Below/At/Above" compares the reported value to its limit; it does not replace the utility's formal compliance determination.

Values transcribed from the official CCR (source ↗) as a first-pass reading — always confirm against the full report, which lists every monitored contaminant, ranges, and footnotes. Lead/copper are 90th-percentile action-level results. This is a partial panel; absence of a contaminant here does not mean it wasn't tested.

NYC tap water monitoring (2024)

New York City distribution monitoring, 2024

New York City continuously tests its tap water at hundreds of street-side sampling stations. From 15,061 compliance samples collected across the city in 2024, the reported results were:

Source: NYC Open Data — Drinking Water Quality Distribution Monitoring Data, 2024 compliance samples. These are operational distribution-system results for the whole city; they are not a substitute for the full NYC annual drinking water supply and quality report, which covers lead, and other regulated contaminants. Lead in NYC water almost always comes from building service lines and plumbing, not the city supply — see the lead section below.

PFAS monitoring (EPA UCMR5)

PFAS testing in Kings County

1 water system in Kings County participated in the EPA's fifth Unregulated Contaminant Monitoring Rule (UCMR5), which tested for 29 PFAS compounds and lithium in 2023–2025. In this round, no PFAS were detected above the reporting level in the Kings County results collected so far. See our New York drinking water standards guide for how PFAS is regulated here.

Read the fine print

What these records don't show

The system and compliance records above come from federal data. Some things people ask about are not captured here and should be confirmed directly:

• Contaminant levels at your tap. Actual values (lead, PFAS, nitrate, disinfection byproducts, etc.) come only from your system's Consumer Confidence Report or your own well test — we do not publish or estimate them.
• Water hardness. Not in the federal system records. Ask your utility for the CCR hardness value or use a home hardness test. See our hard-water guide.
• Taste, odor, color, and staining. These aesthetic issues are not standardized here; your CCR's secondary-contaminant notes and your own observations are the best guide.
• Year-over-year change. We don't track how a system's results changed from last year — compare this year's CCR to last year's using the report links.

Find your report

How to find your water provider and report

1. Check a recent water bill for your water system or district name.
2. Look up that system and its most recent Consumer Confidence Report (CCR) using the official tools below.
3. On a private well? A CCR won't apply — see our private well testing guide.

• NYSDOH Drinking Water Protection Program
• EPA ECHO · EPA SDWIS federal reports
• Our step-by-step CCR finder guide

Confirm it's your water

Make sure a report is actually yours

1. Find the provider name and PWS ID printed on your water bill — a town name or ZIP alone is not enough to identify the system.
2. Match that PWS ID to the systems table above (or search it on EPA ECHO).
3. Open that system's current CCR for the official results and any notices.
4. For a point-of-use concern (especially lead), use a certified laboratory test for your specific tap — the system-wide report can meet standards while an individual older home does not.

Lead & older homes

Lead and service lines in Kings County

Lead is almost never in the water leaving a treatment plant — it typically enters from a lead service line or older home plumbing. A system-wide CCR can meet the lead action level while an individual older home shows a higher result at the tap. New York requires public water systems to inventory their lead service lines, so ask your utility for its inventory, and confirm your own tap with a certified laboratory test. New York City offers a free residential lead test kit through 311. See our lead & copper guide and utility report vs. home tap test.

Communities

Neighborhoods in Kings County

Local guidance in Kings County is most relevant to these neighborhoods:

• Brooklyn Heights
• Williamsburg
• Park Slope
• Bay Ridge
• Flatbush
• Bensonhurst
• Bedford-Stuyvesant
• Crown Heights
• Sunset Park
• Sheepshead Bay
• Bushwick
• Greenpoint
• Coney Island
• Borough Park
• Canarsie
• Bushwick
• Brownsville
• East New York
• Flatlands
• Dyker Heights

Representative ZIP codes

A sample of ZIP codes in Kings County (not a complete list; one ZIP can span multiple systems):

• 11201
• 11203
• 11204
• 11205
• 11206
• 11207
• 11208
• 11209
• 11210
• 11211
• 11212
• 11213
• 11214
• 11215
• 11216
• 11217
• 11218
• 11219
• 11220
• 11221
• 11222
• 11223
• 11224
• 11225
• 11226
• 11228
• 11229
• 11230
• 11231
• 11232
• 11233
• 11234
• 11235
• 11236
• 11237
• 11238
• 11239

Improve your water

Common Kings County home water steps

Authoritative resources

Official & academic water resources for Kings County

For primary data and research beyond this guide, these New York agencies and universities are the authoritative sources:

• NYSDOH — Drinking Water Protection Program
• NYSDEC — Water
• USGS — New York Water Science Center
• Cornell University — NYS Water Resources Institute: Drinking Water
• NYC DEP — Drinking Water Quality

FAQ

Frequently asked questions

Who provides drinking water in Kings County?

the New York City Department of Environmental Protection (DEP). Federal records list 1 active community water systems in the county. Check a recent water bill or the lookup tools to confirm the exact system serving your address.

How do I find my water quality report in Kings County?

Every community water system must publish an annual Consumer Confidence Report (CCR). Identify your provider first, then request its current CCR from the provider or through NYSDOH. Private wells are not covered by a CCR and must be tested independently.

Is Kings County water hard or soft?

New York City's surface supply is naturally soft to moderately hard and low in minerals.

Are there water-quality violations in Kings County?

Federal EPA records show 1 of the county's 1 community water systems with a health-based violation on record over the years; open a system's federal report or current CCR for status.

Does this page publish local test results?

No. We publish the systems, sources, and compliance records that come from federal data, but not address-level contaminant values — those come only from each provider's official CCR and the NYS Department of Health.

Last reviewed: July 2026