Troy, New York
What is the Water Quality in Troy, New York?
Compared to other US cities, Troy water quality ranks in the low-middle range for contamination excluding Lead.
Most of their 21 contaminants are related to water treatment and have cancer-causing attributes.
Let’s look closer at what’s in Troy water.
What’s in Troy water?
Here are the top 5 chemical compounds in your water and what health issues they can potentially cause:
- Bromodichloromethane – Potential effect: Cancer
- Chloroform – Potential effect: Cancer
- Hexavalent Chromium – Potential effect: Cancer
- Haloacetic acids (HAA5) – Potential effect: Cancer
- Total trihalomethanes – Potential effect: Cancer
These are five of the 21 contaminants analyzed by the Environmental Working Group (ewg.org).
10 of these contaminants are rated as exceeding EWG Health Guidelines.
Does Troy have Lead contamination?
Yes, Troy has lead in its water. 90 percent of lead samples collected in Troy had concentrations up to 6.3 parts per billion.
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 Troy’s water come from?
Troy (city) water comes from water sources in the Troy Reservoir – Hudson River watershed.
0 out of 8 waterbodies in the Troy Reservoir – Hudson River watershed is in Good condition.
The 8 waterbodies are either Impaired (3) or in Unknown Condition (5).
Impaired waterbodies:
- Hudson River (Class C)
- Minor tributaries to West of Hudson
- Upper Hudson – Main Stem
Learn more from How’s My Waterway here
What Can You Do?
Information about water quality in Troy, New York 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 83% of contaminants in your drinking water.
- Berkey filters can also remove up to 99.99% of lead in Troy water.
- Brita can filter 9 (including Lead depending on the filter).
- Note: We may receive a commission if you decide to purchase filters through links on this page.
- To filter out 18 of the 21 contaminants, consider a Reverse Osmosis water filtration system for your house.
- These are typically more expensive than pitchers to purchase, but may require fewer filter changes over time.
- They have the benefit of filtering out heavy hitters like:
- Barium
- Nitrate
- Strontium
- Uranium
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.troyny.gov/ to find contact information for your local officials.