Hempstead, New York

What is the Water Quality in Hempstead, New York?

Compared to other US cities, Hempstead water quality ranks in the high range for contamination excluding Lead.

Most of their 39 contaminants have cancer-causing attributes.

• Radium is at extremely high levels: 30x health guidelines.
• PFOA is at extremely high levels: 211x health guidelines.

Let’s look closer at what’s in Hempstead water.

What’s in Hempstead water?

Here are the top 5 chemical compounds in your water and what health issues they can potentially cause:

1. Arsenic – Potential effect: Cancer
2. Hexavalent Chromium – Potential effect: Cancer
3. Nitrate – Potential effect: Cancer
4. PFOA – Potential effect: Cancer
5. Radium – Potential effect: Cancer

These are five of the 39 contaminants analyzed by the Environmental Working Group (ewg.org).

These 5 contaminants are rated as exceeding EWG Health Guidelines.

Does Hempstead have Lead contamination?

Yes, Hempstead has lead in its water. The most recent Lead samples collected in 2019 showed concentrations up to 49.7 parts per billion (ppb).

The legal limit for lead is 15 parts per billion. Being well-below this level is a good thing.

• Concentrations between 3.8 ppb and 15 ppb put a formula-fed baby at risk of elevated blood lead levels. Read more about the symptoms of Lead in water.

There is no safe level of lead for humans.

• The good news is that 99.99% of the lead can be filtered out.

See the What Can You Do? section below to learn how to filter out contaminants.

Where does Hempstead’s water come from?

Hempstead’s water comes from the Mill River watershead.

4 out of 5 water sources in the Mill River watershed are in Impaired condition. These include:

• Hempstead Lake
• Smith Pond
• Tidal tributaries to Hempstead Bay
• Tributaries to Smith/Halls Ponds

Ideally, a water source would be rated in Good condition. South Pond is in good condition.

Learn more from How’s My Waterway

See below for what you can do to improve Hempstead’s water.

What Can You Do?

Information about water quality in Hempstead can be surprising.

But there are things you can do in your home to clean up your water.

To Remove Lead and Other Contaminants In Your Home:

There is one solution that beats Brita, PUR, and expensive whole house systems.

• It costs less per gallon.
• Needs fewer filter changes.
• And it doesn’t make your water taste weird.

• Use Berkey filters with activated carbon to filter out at least 80% of contaminants in your drinking water.
  • Berkey filters can also remove up to 99.99% of Lead in Hempstead water.
  • Brita can filter 18 of 39 contaminants and Lead depending on the filter.
    • Regular Brita filters will not remove Arsenic, Radium, or Uranium.
  • Note: We may receive a commission if you decide to purchase filters through links on this page.
• To filter out 18 of the 39 contaminants in your whole house, consider a Reverse Osmosis water filtration system for your home.
  • These are typically more expensive than pitchers to purchase, but are much more effective.
  • They have the benefit of filtering out heavy hitters like:
    • 1,4-Dioxane
    • Arsenic
    • Barium
    • Benzene
    • Chromium (hexavalent)
    • Cobalt
    • MTBE – flammable fuel additive
    • Nitrate
    • Nitrite
    • Perchlorate
    • PFHPA
    • PFHXS
    • PFNA
    • PFOA
    • PFOS
    • Radium
    • Selenium
    • Strontium
    • Total trihalomethanes – byproduct of chlorination
    • Uranium
    • Vinyl chloride – flammable, toxic manufacturing byproduct

In Your Community:

Contact your local government officials and put pressure on them to invest in cleaner waterways and upgraded city water filtration and treatment.

Go to: https://hempsteadny.gov/ to find contact information for your local officials.

Water Quality in Other New York Cities

New York Water Quality Page