Kings County, New York: drinking water report. Kings County – Brooklyn – is home to about 2.7 million people, making it the most populous borough in New
Kings County – Brooklyn – is home to about 2.7 million people, making it the most populous borough in New York City. Like the rest of the city, Brooklyn receives its drinking water from the Catskill/Delaware and Croton watershed systems managed by the NYC DEP. The source water is excellent by national standards, but Brooklyn's dense housing stock includes many buildings from the 19th and early 20th centuries with aging internal plumbing.
New York State's PFAS MCLs of 10 ppt for PFOA and PFOS provide stricter protection than federal standards, and NYC's watershed-based supply generally tests below these limits. The EPA's UCMR5 data confirms low-level detections but no exceedances of state thresholds for the city's system.
The infrastructure concern in Brooklyn is lead. Buildings constructed before 1961 may have lead solder in copper pipes, and older structures may have lead service connections. The NYC DEP's 2024 water quality report noted that 90th percentile lead levels across the city met federal standards, but individual older buildings can still produce elevated readings, particularly after water sits in pipes overnight.
Brooklyn's pre-war housing stock is both its charm and its water quality risk. If your building was constructed before 1961, lead exposure from internal plumbing is worth investigating.
Run your tap for 30-60 seconds before using water for cooking or drinking if it has been sitting for hours. Check your water to see monitoring data for your area. A certified lead-reduction filter is cheap insurance. Our water filter guide covers effective options. Pull your detailed report for local trends, and visit our New York page for statewide context.
Drinking water is one exposure route. These federal datasets also cover Kings County, NY.
The EPA places Kings County, NY in Zone 3 - the EPA's lowest-risk category, with a predicted average indoor radon level below 2 pCi/L. Zone maps predict an area's radon potential from geology and existing indoor readings; they say nothing about a specific house. Testing is the only way to know your own level.
82% of homes in Kings County, NY were built before 1980, and 57% before 1950. Residential lead paint was banned in 1978, so housing age is the strongest available proxy for lead-paint exposure. This describes the county's housing stock, not any one home.
Modelled annual fine-particle pollution (PM2.5) in Kings County, NY averages 8 µg/m³, within the EPA's annual standard of 9 µg/m³. These are CDC modelled county estimates rather than readings from a specific monitor.
How radon zones work · Air quality by county · Lead exposure guide
13 public water systems serving Kings County, NY have EPA lead testing on record. The reported lead sample skews toward systems that already flagged a problem, so its exceedance rate is not directly comparable with other areas. 5 water systems serving Kings County, NY carry a health-based EPA Safe Drinking Water Act violation.
| Most-cited violation type | Systems affected |
|---|---|
| Stage 1 Disinfectants and Disinfection Byproducts Rule | 2 |
| Revised Total Coliform Rule | 1 |
| Lead and Copper Rule | 1 |
| PFOA | 1 |
| PFOS | 1 |
Source: EPA Lead and Copper Rule 90th-percentile tap sampling and EPA SDWIS Safe Drinking Water Act enforcement records, aggregated from the public water systems serving this county. Figures are counts of water systems, not a test of any individual home or tap.