Drinking Water Program: Facts and Figures

Nearly ninety-five percent of all New Yorkers receive water from public water supply systems in New York State. Public water systems in New York range from New York City, the largest engineered water system in the nation serving more than nine million people, to privately-owned water supply companies serving municipalities, to schools with their own water supply, to small stores in rural areas serving customers water from their own wells. In total, there are over 10,000 public water systems in New York State.

The number of systems by system type and the population served by each type of water system are provided below (Table 1). The reported value for the total population of over 21 million served by these systems is based on counts that include exchanges of water between systems resulting in counting the same population multiple times. The total population figure also includes consumers receiving water from transient non-community systems. Multiple counts of the same population and consumers result in a total value greater than the state's population.

Table 1: Public Water Systems by System Type
Public Water System Type Number of Systems Population Served
Community 3,312 17,900,973
Transient non-community 6,080 2,853,104
Non-transient non-community 755 343,361
Total 10,147 21,097,438

The number of systems by type of water source and the population served by these systems are provided below (Table 2). The majority of the State's population is served by surface water. The metropolitan area of New York City and Long Island dominate the concentration of people receiving public water in the State. Of the nine million people served by New York City water supplies, most receive surface water. The majority of ground water supplies are concentrated on Long Island including the Jamaica Bay area within New York City and Nassau and Suffolk Counties, together accounting for 3 million users. The remaining population of 7.5 million people receiving public water is primarily concentrated in cities, villages and associated suburban areas where public infrastructure has been developed throughout the state. Several systems are served by sources classified as groundwater under the direct influence of surface water or GUI. GUI Sources require the same level of treatment as surface water sources.

Table 2: Public Water Systems by Source Type
Primary Source Type Number of Systems Population Served
Surface Water 648 11,737,836
Ground Water 8,549 5,230,699
Purchased Surface Water 803 3,922,298
Purchased Ground Water 147 206,605
Total 10,147 21,097,438