When considering purchasing a home in Long Island, water quality is a crucial aspect that should not be overlooked. Ensuring that the water is safe, clean, and free from contaminants is essential for the health and well-being of you and your family. To help you navigate this important topic, here are five key questions to ask about water quality when buying a home in Long Island.

Question No. 1: Where is the home’s water sourced from?

Understanding the source of the home’s water supply is fundamental. In Long Island, water typically comes from groundwater wells. These wells draw water from the aquifers beneath the island, which are replenished by rainwater and surface water infiltration. In Long Island, water is typically sourced from one of three major aquifers: the Upper Glacial Aquifer, the Magothy Aquifer, and the Lloyd Aquifer.

The Upper Glacial Aquifer is the shallowest and most accessible, but it is also the most vulnerable to contamination from surface pollutants such as pesticides and fertilizers. The Magothy Aquifer is the largest and most heavily utilized, lying beneath the Upper Glacial Aquifer. It offers some natural filtration but still requires regular monitoring for contaminants. The Lloyd Aquifer is the deepest, providing the highest quality water due to its significant natural filtration, but it is less frequently accessed because of extraction difficulties and costs.

These aquifers provide fresh water but come with concerns such as contamination from industrial waste, agricultural runoff, and septic system leaks. Hard water, common due to high mineral levels, can cause plumbing issues, dry skin, and rough laundry. According to a U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) report, saltwater intrusion poses a significant risk, particularly for the Upper Glacial Aquifer, due to its shallow depth and extensive groundwater pumping which affects its freshwater zones​.

Question No. 2: Is there lead piping leading into the home?

Lead piping is a significant concern as it can leach harmful lead into the water supply, posing serious health risks, especially for children and pregnant women. Lead pipes were commonly used in homes built before the 1980s.

In Long Island, it’s important to ask about the plumbing materials used, particularly the service line connecting the home to the main water supply. Older homes are more likely to have lead pipes, as the installation of lead pipes was banned only in 1986 under the Safe Drinking Water Act. Homes built before this year are at a higher risk of having lead service lines or fixtures.

Preliminary inventories and assessments by local water providers, such as the Suffolk County Water Authority and the Long Island Water Conference, confirm that very few homes in Nassau and Suffolk counties have lead piping. Even though the Biden administration’s proposed regulatory changes by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) are crucial for nationwide public health, the financial burden of this extensive project is substantial. Due to the sheer number of pipes involved, the project is expected to take decades to complete.

Question No. 3: Is the area known for having water issues?

Long Island faces challenges such as PFAS contamination, hard water, and 1,4-dioxane contamination. PFAS chemicals exceeding EPA standards affect over a million residents, while hard water, with elevated mineral content, and 1,4-dioxane contamination. Understanding these issues is crucial for making informed decisions when buying a home, and ensuring that the water supply meets safety and quality standards for your family’s well-being.

PFAS Contamination: Long Island’s drinking water contains excessive amounts of PFOA and PFOS, affecting around 570,000 people and surpassing state health regulations. These harmful chemicals highlight the need for effective water treatment solutions to ensure safe drinking water for residents.

Hard water: Hard water is a very big problem in Long Island. Long Island grapples with moderately hard-to-hard water, with an average hardness ranging from 7 to 12 grains per gallon (GPG)​​. This elevated level of hardness is a result of the abundant mineral content, primarily calcium and magnesium, found in the local groundwater and aquifers.

1,4-Dioxane Contamination: Long Island’s water supply faces contamination from 1,4-dioxane, a persistent contaminant known to enter the environment through various pathways, including air, water, soil, and groundwater. Its resistance to degradation makes it particularly concerning for water sources. The presence of 1,4-dioxane in Long Island’s water supply stems from long-standing industrial and agricultural practices, posing a significant challenge for water quality management in the region.

Question No. 4: Does the home have a water treatment solution installed?

In general, due to the general industrial contamination of its aquifers, the water quality in Long Island is among the worst in the state. That’s where having a water treatment system installed can provide an extra layer of protection and peace of mind. Common water treatment solutions include water softeners, filtration systems, and reverse osmosis units.

As a buyer, you can ask the seller if any water treatment systems are currently installed in the home. If so, request details about the type of system, its age, maintenance records, and any warranties or service agreements. If there is no system in place, talk to us at Simply PURE Water Filtration, Inc and we’ll help you get started with a free consultation. Our water treatment solutions can significantly improve water quality by removing contaminants such as bacteria, sediment, chlorine, and heavy metals.

Question No. 5: Is there a resource near me to get my water tested?

Absolutely! Simply PURE Water Filtration, Inc. is committed to ensuring that your family drinks clean, safe water straight from your tap. We live in Long Island and we know the challenges faced by residents in Nassau and Suffolk Counties. You can request a free water quality analysis¹ or a more extensive paid test that looks for specific contaminants, ensuring that you’re aware of any potential issues and taking proactive steps to address them. Follow us for more updates on Long Island water quality and take the first step towards healthier living by requesting your water quality analysis today.

¹Water quality analysis is free with the agreement to purchase any water filtration system.

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Water Quality Questions to Ask When Buying a Home in Long Island

About Simply PURE Water Filtration Services

Living in and serving the Long Island community, we strive to make sure everyone has access to clean, healthy water. We have the experience, knowledge, and industry-leading technology to provide clean water solutions for water impurities, contaminants, hard water, bad tasting/odors, well water, acidity & pH regulations.

Proud members of the WQA (Water Quality Association), and the EWQA (Eastern Water Quality Association), we adhere to strict guidelines and the WQA code of ethics. As a Pentair True Blue Partner and Authorized Distributor of Pentair Products, there’s nothing comparable to the performance, and efficiency of our whole house purification systems, water softeners, neutralizers, whole-house filters, and alkaline reverse osmosis systems for drinking in the convenience of your home.

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Our products are all NSF / ANSI certified, meeting the highest safety standards and quality performance. Providing our community with only the best experience of high quality water that’s Simply PURE from our family to yours!

Simply PURE utilizes accurate testing methods before and after system installation, as well as annual maintenance of all your water treatment equipment. Our Revolutionary Custom Built Water Treatment systems upon the completion of a Free In-Home Water Analysis, or an in-depth Comprehensive Water Analysis of your choice sent to our Certified Laboratory.

Customers Frequently Ask..

The answer to this question depends on which kind of drinking water you’re talking about. There are multiple agencies responsible for regulating water quality in the U.S., and there are some who are more critical about the way it’s handled.

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The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is in charge of overseeing the water that comes out of your tap. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) oversees and regulates the quality of bottled water.

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Individual states are responsible for regulating water that is bottled and sold within their borders. Finally, your municipality must make sure it is following federal and state standards regarding water quality.

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The EPA does not regulate private wells, and rules for testing differ from state to state. In many cases, it is the homeowner’s responsibility to make sure their well water is safe.

Certain things can affect the flavor, odor, and appearance of your tap water, not all of them are necessarily harmful.

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Many people with public water can taste the chlorine, although the most noticeable problems tend to come from private wells. Contaminants like sulfur can impact the smell, while iron will cause discoloration and staining.

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The overall amount of total dissolved solids (TDS) in your tap water will definitely affect the taste, smell, and appearance. While many of these issues are not serious concerns, they can certainly be a nuisance. Water filtration systems, including a high-efficiency water softener to reduce hardness, can provide solutions.

This process is called “reverse” osmosis because the pressure forces the water to flow in the reverse direction (from the concentrated solution to the dilute solution) to the flow direction (from the dilute to the concentrated) in the process of natural osmosis. RO removes ionized salts, colloids, and organic molecules down to a molecular weight of 100.

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You can get a whole-house RO, but more commonly, a point-of-use RO system would be on your countertop or installed under the sink. They’re great for treating water for cooking and drinking, but they don’t usually produce large amounts of treated water — more like 3 to 10 gallons a day. For that reason, typically people choose to install RO-treated faucets in the most popular areas of the home such as kitchens and bathrooms, as opposed to installing it for every drinking tap. Just like any other kind of filter technology, reverse osmosis systems require regular maintenance. That includes periodically replacing the unit’s prefilters, postfilters, and membrane modules.

Due to the media attention Flint, Michigan, received over its water crisis, a lot of people have questions about lead in public water systems around the U.S.

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Lead (as well as copper) typically enters the public supply by leaching into water from corroded fixtures and outdated plumbing. Homes built before 1986 will likely have plumbing with copper pipes using solder that may contain lead.

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Lead can cause serious negative health effects, especially in children. The challenge is that it is undetectable by human senses. You can check with your local water authority for information about lead levels, but it’s important to note that the CDC and EPA say there’s no level of lead recognized as safe for consumption.

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If you have concerns about the presence of lead in your water, you can have it tested in a state-certified laboratory. You can also read more in our article on lead in drinking water.

Softening hard water can mitigate many of its objectionable effects. Water softening can be done either at point of entry or point of use. One of the unique advantages offered by point-of-use water softening is the opportunity for homemakers to have either hard or soft water for drinking. This choice is not available if the water supply is softened municipally. Hardness minerals can be reduced in water to make it “softer” by using one of three basic means:

  • Chemical softening—lime softening, hot and cold; lime-soda softening
  • Membrane separation softening—Nano filtration
  • Cation exchange softening—inorganic, carbonaceous, or organic base exchangers
  • Softening water for home needs is done almost exclusively through the use of cation exchange.

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Customer Testimonials

"Absolutely amazing service from beginning to end. Trustworthy and reliable to work with. And the water taste!! It’s incredible the difference after we installed our water filtration system throughout our house. Also knowing my kids are drinking the purest of water is the biggest game changer. I would absolutely recommend Vinny and staff."

Randi Demetriou 

"We had a recent installation done by Vinny at Simply PURE and we couldn’t be happier. Vinny is reputable, reliable, efficient and the service is great. The water is so clean and tastes great, we don’t have to think twice about what is coming out of our faucet! Thank you Vinny!

Mike D.