{"id":726156,"date":"2026-06-26T00:23:21","date_gmt":"2026-06-26T00:23:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/726156\/"},"modified":"2026-06-26T00:23:21","modified_gmt":"2026-06-26T00:23:21","slug":"is-the-citys-tap-water-as-good-as-new-yorkers-claim-we-looked-into-it","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/726156\/","title":{"rendered":"Is the city’s tap water as good as New Yorkers claim? We looked into it."},"content":{"rendered":"

This column originally appeared in Looped In NYC, our weekly newsletter for where to go and what to know. (Sign up here<\/a>!)<\/p>\n

We New Yorkers love to brag that our city is the best at everything \u2013 food, walkability, cultural diversity, and yes, even our *tap water.*<\/p>\n

Former Mayor Eric Adams called it the \u201cchampagne of municipal water.\u201d The city’s environmental protection website prides itself in having \u201cthe best tap water in the world.\u201d<\/a> And some New Yorkers even credit their water as the secret ingredient behind the city\u2019s famously thin, foldable pizzas and thick, chewy bagels.<\/p>\n

I\u2019ll admit that New York City\u2019s tap water is genuinely tasty and very drinkable. But I lived in Baltimore for a couple years and\u2026 I remember it being pretty good there, too! So lately I\u2019ve been wondering: Does NYC really have the best tap water in the world? Or are the city and its passionate residents just really good at marketing it?<\/p>\n

So for this week\u2019s Looped In, we brought in water sommelier Amalia Ulman (yes, those exist!) to test NYC\u2019s water against tap water from Baltimore, Cincinnati, Washington, D.C. and of course our neighbors in Jersey City.<\/p>\n

Ulman ranked each city on a scale of 1-10. One city\u2019s water made her physically recoil, earning it a 1\/10. And while Baltimore still tasted smooth to me, Ulman described a \u201cchalky aftertaste.\u201d Watch our video of the taste tests to see how each city stacked up<\/a>.<\/p>\n

But spoiler alert: New York City was the only one to get a coveted 10\/10.<\/p>\n

It makes sense that NYC\u2019s tap water tastes so good because it comes from extremely clean water reservoirs in the Catskill Mountains and the Hudson Valley, which are forested areas protected from pollution, according to water expert Gregory O\u2019Mullan, who chairs Queens College\u2019s school of earth and environmental sciences.<\/p>\n

NYC\u2019s drinking water supply system is the largest unfiltered water supply in the country, according to New York state\u2019s Department of Environmental Conservation. That means the water is naturally purified as it moves down through layers of soil and rock, requiring minimal chemical treatment like chlorine and ultraviolet radiation before reaching your faucet.<\/p>\n

In contrast, places like Long Island get their tap water from groundwater aquifers, which are more susceptible to industrial pollution, O\u2019Mullan said.<\/p>\n

\u201c\u200aIt is far, far easier and cheaper to keep water clean than it is to treat water that has been exposed to a variety of pollutants,\u201d O\u2019Mullan said.<\/p>\n

NYC\u2019s tap water happens to be both safe and good-tasting, but O\u2019Mullan was quick to point out those two things don’t always correlate with each other. That means the cities that got low taste testing scores still might have perfectly safe tap water.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s important to untangle those two things,\u201d O\u2019Mullan said. \u201cThat being said, it’s important to have good-tasting water as well because we don\u2019t want to have to use bottled water.\u201d<\/p>\n

NYC\u2019s water source is relatively pristine, but old pipes in some buildings can leach lead into the water, O\u2019Mullan said. You can get a free lead test kit by calling 311.<\/p>\n

And if you want to be extra careful with your tap water, here are some tips O\u2019Mullan shared:<\/p>\n

Run your faucet for 30 seconds to a minute when you first wake up since water sitting in the pipes overnight can pick up contaminants.Cook with cold water. Hot water can interact with pipes more and pick up lead a little bit faster.Clean out your water faucet aerator monthly. Corrosion particles can collect there and increase lead exposure.<\/p>\n

As for whether NYC’s famously clean tap water makes our pizzas and bagels taste better, the answer is more nuanced. According to Rachel Wyman, who teaches advanced baking at the Culinary Institute of America, the city\u2019s low mineral content increases yeast activity, which does make bread taste better.<\/p>\n

But water is only part of the reason. It\u2019s really the city\u2019s unique airborne yeast strains that give New York bread its distinctive flavor, she said. You can see this wild yeast sometimes as dusty white coating on your grapes and blueberries, Wyman said.<\/p>\n

\u201c\u200aEven if you take New York City tap water and your flour and your bakers and everything else to San Francisco, you’re not gonna be able to recreate the same nuances that the microbiome of New York City has in its dough,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Listen to this week’s Looped In segment on “All Things Considered<\/a>.”<\/p>\n