Hoosick Falls named Worst Drinking Water in Capital Region

There's only two things necessary to keep a human being alive: food and water. Luckily, we live on a planet that has an abundance of both. As our population and industry grows, however, those resources are slowly becoming depleted.

Drinking water has become less and less safe top drink, and one Capital Region city has some of the worst in New York.

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Worst Water in New York State

A recent study pulled data from the 2026 EPA and EWG databases by Echo Water determined the worst drinking water in the United States, and then broke those down state by state. New York has two that broke into the national rankings, Perry (#19) and Fort Drum (#22) were named as some of the most unclean drinking water in America.

A faucet pouring out brown water — Credit: Canva

Those two top the list of New York state, but Hoosick Falls, located in Rensselaer County, was named the 9th worst in the state. This is due to 19 determined contaminants, some of which carrying carcinogens, found in the drinking water supply, which is significantly above the national average.

How to Ensure You Have Clean Water

Obviously, you don't want to drink contaminated water, but when that's basically your only option, it doesn't seem like there's many choices. Luckily, even with these roadblocks, you can still get clean drinking water in your home.

Buy bottled water
- To save, buy refillable 5-gallon jugs that you can reuse and refill at a discount
Use a water filter
- You can buy either sink-fastened filters or fillable filters for relatively cheap
Boil water and cool in the fridge before use
- This will kill any harmful bacteria in the water