Ulster County, New York: drinking water report. Ulster County spans the Hudson Valley from Kingston and Saugerties along the river to the Catskill Mountain…
Ulster County spans the Hudson Valley from Kingston and Saugerties along the river to the Catskill Mountain communities of Woodstock, Phoenicia, and New Paltz. Water supply varies dramatically across the county. Kingston and Saugerties draw from the Hudson River through municipal treatment plants, while mountain towns rely on small public systems fed by mountain streams and private wells tapping shallow bedrock aquifers. The Ashokan Reservoir sits within county boundaries as part of New York City's water supply system, but county residents do not drink from it directly.
Ulster County's water quality challenges split along geographic lines. Hudson River communities face legacy industrial contamination, with polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) from General Electric's upstream plants remaining a persistent concern in river sediments. While treated municipal water removes these contaminants before distribution, the county's drinking water infrastructure includes aging lead service lines in Kingston's older neighborhoods. The state Lead and Copper Rule monitoring has identified elevated lead levels in some homes, particularly those built before 1986 when lead solder was standard in plumbing.
Mountain communities deal with different problems. Small water systems serving towns like Phoenicia and Margaretville struggle with naturally occurring contaminants that leach from Catskill bedrock. Radon in well water appears frequently in geological surveys of the region. Arsenic shows up in some wells drilled into shale formations. The New York State Department of Health has flagged several small systems for coliform bacteria violations after heavy rainfall overwhelms basic filtration. Private well owners, who make up roughly 30 percent of the county's water users, receive no routine monitoring unless they arrange testing themselves.
PFAS contamination likely exists but remains poorly documented. EPA's UCMR5 testing (which ended in 2023) showed per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances in multiple Hudson Valley water systems, though specific Ulster County results have not been widely publicized. The state's 2024 expansion of PFAS testing to smaller systems may reveal contamination in communities near former industrial sites, fire training facilities, or airports. Agricultural runoff in the county's apple-growing regions introduces seasonal spikes in nitrates and pesticide residues, though these typically stay below EPA maximum contaminant levels.
If you drink from Kingston or Saugerties municipal water, request lead testing if your home was built before 1990, and consider filtration if you live in older housing stock. Private well owners should test annually for bacteria and every three to five years for arsenic, radon, and nitrates. Check your water to see current contamination data for your specific address, review our water filter guide to find certified systems that remove the contaminants present in your supply, and access your detailed report for the full dataset on Ulster County's water quality. For broader context on New York's drinking water challenges, visit our state page.