Report finds 13,000 Nassau water lines need replacement because of lead contamination

ALBANY — Nearly 13,000 water lines in Nassau County need to be replaced because they're made of or could be contaminated by lead, according to a report released Tuesday.

The findings are part of a report from the Rockefeller Institute of Government that highlights the progress water systems have made to inventory and identify water service lines — which connect water mains in the street to houses and buildings — that need replacement because of lead contamination as part of a federal mandate.

Water suppliers have until November 2027 to inventory and submit plans for lead service line replacements, under federal regulations established by the Environmental Protection Agency. Most have until 2037 to replace them.

A complete accounting of service lines across New York is "essential" for accurately identifying lead and lead-contaminated pipes, said Laura Rabinow, Rockefeller Institute director of research and a co-author on the report.

"This is really the first time we have broadly tried to make sure that we have identified all of these and centralized the identification process," she told Newsday. "Giving us the full baseline by November of next year will really enable us to see what kind of investments we need to make and better plan as a state how we are going to make them."

The research from the Rockefeller Institute, an Albany-based public policy think tank, closely mirrors a 2025 Newsday analysis of state data.

The Rockefeller report found that as of July, 286,544 water lines statewide are in need of replacement, including 12,904 in Nassau County and 16 in Suffolk County. That includes pipes made of lead, as well as galvanized pipes — steel pipes coated with zinc — that also must be replaced because they were "down stream" and water can pick up contamination as it flows through the lines. There are about 800,000 to 900,000 total service lines on Long Island, according to state records.

"We have known for a long time the human health harms of lead and lead exposure ... Anytime that we can prevent those exposures, we’re preventing potentially lifelong impacts for folks," Rabinow said.

The World Health Organization has said exposure to lead can cause kidney disease, damage to the immune system and reproductive organs, anemia and high blood pressure. There’s no safe level of exposure for young children who are particularly vulnerable.

Some communities that will need to do remediation include the Village of Hempstead, with 733 lines needing replacement. Others, like the Jericho Water District, have less work with six lines in need of replacement, according to the Rockefeller report.

Jenn Grillo, of Jericho, said she’s not aware of an issue in her water district but would like documentation of where the water is coming from and to be sure it’s safe to drink. "I have four young kids, so of course, [I'm] always worried about that," she told Newsday.

While 98% of water systems in the state submitted their inventories by July, 52 have not, according to the Rockefeller report. That's a substantial decrease from 2025, when there were 243 missing systems.

Lead piping was used in American homes going back to the 19th century before federal regulators and New York outlawed its use for new pipes. Local data varies because different water systems came on at different times over the last century or longer and records may not be available, Rabinow said.

Identifying the problem is just the beginning; replacing the pipes is costly, said James Neri, a spokesperson for the Long Island Water Conference, a trade association.

The state and federal government have committed around $975 million to remediation, but given the estimated number of lead service lines, another roughly $2.725 billion will be needed to replace all the lines in New York by 2037, according to the Rockefeller Institute.

While some communities have tapped into grant dollars, some costs may fall to the property owners, and it can range between $4,000 and $5,000 on the low end, Neri said.

And time is short with a 10-year window to replace them, he said. "For some entities, that is going to be a challenge just based on pure volume, availability of materials and money."

NewsdayTV's Shari Einhorn and Newsday's Yancey Roy contributed to this story.