New Rochelle, New York

New Rochelle, New York New Rochelle, New York

What is the Water Quality in New Rochelle, New York?

[Updated: June 9, 2023]

Compared to other US cities, New Rochelle water quality ranks in the middle range for contamination excluding Lead.

Most of their 22 contaminants have cancer-causing attributes.

  • Chloroform is at very high levels: 83x health guidelines.
  • Haloacetic acids (HAA5) are at extremely high levels: 264x health guidelines.
  • Haloacetic acids (HAA9) are at extremely high levels: 431x health guidelines.
    • These are both byproducts of the chlorine treatment process most water supplies go through.

Let’s look closer at what’s in New Rochelle water.

What’s in New Rochelle water?

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

  1. Chloroform – Potential effect: Cancer
  2. Haloacetic acids (HAA5) – Potential effect: Cancer
  3. Haloacetic acids (HAA9) – Potential effect: Cancer
  4. Hexavalent Chromium – Potential effect: Cancer
  5. Total trihalomethanes – Potential effect: Cancer

These are five of the 22 contaminants analyzed by the Environmental Working Group (ewg.org).

9 of these contaminants are rated as exceeding EWG Health Guidelines.

Does New Rochelle water have Lead contamination?

Yes, New Rochelle has lead in its water. The most recent Lead samples collected from 2016 through 2018 showed concentrations up to 6.5 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 removed.

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

Where does New Rochelle’s water come from?

New Rochelle’s water comes from the East Creek – Mamaroneck Harbor watershed.

8 of the 9 EPA assessed water sources in the East Creek – Mamaroneck Harbor watershed are in Impaired or Unknown condition. These include:

  • Burling Brook and its tributaries
  • Eastchester Bay
  • Echo Harbor – Premium Millpond
  • Larchmont Harbor
  • Mamaroneck Harbor
  • Milton Harbor – Lower Blind Brook
  • New Rochelle Harbor
  • Otter Creek – Mill Pond and its tidal tributaries

Ideally, a water source would be rated in Good condition. Huguenot Lake’s water quality is Good.

Whether a water source is in Impaired or Good condition refers to the quality of these uses:

  1. Drinking Water
  2. Aquatic Life
  3. Fish and Shellfish Consumption
  4. Recreation

Learn more from How’s My Waterway

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

What Can You Do?

Information about water quality in New Rochelle 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:

  • Use Activated Carbon filters to remove most contaminants in your drinking water.
    • Faucet-mount filters work better than pitchers.
    • PUR and Brita are low-cost and effective.
Brita Lead Filtration
Brita Faucet Mount – Amazon
Reverse Osmosis Systems for New Rochelle
APEC system – Amazon

*Chlorination is an effective method of disinfecting/treating drinking water. You can then use a water filter to reduce the effects of chlorination byproducts to get the safest, cleanest water possible.

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://www.newrochelleny.com/27/GOVERNMENT to find contact information for your local officials.

Water Quality in Other New York Cities

New York Water Quality Page

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