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What's in Speigletown's water? The 2025 quality report, explained

The Town of Schaghticoke has published its Annual Drinking Water Quality Report for 2025 — the state-required yearly accounting of what’s in the water, where it comes from, and how it compares to New York’s limits. We read all ten pages so you don’t have to. Here’s what it says, with a Speigletown focus.

The bottom line

No water-quality violations in 2025. Some contaminants were detected — that is normal for any water system, including bottled water — but everything came in below the levels New York State allows. The one violation on the books was paperwork, not water: the town didn’t submit its December 2025 operations report for Water District #1 on time.

Where Speigletown’s water comes from

Speigletown sits in Consolidated Water District #1, which buys its water from the City of Troy. That water starts in the spring-fed Tomhannock Reservoir, is treated at the Troy Water Treatment Plant, and gets fluoride at low levels along the way. Orthophosphate is added specifically to prevent corrosion in pipes — a lead-protection measure.

It’s stored locally in the Speigletown Tank: a 180,000-gallon reinforced concrete tank (two 90,000-gallon cells) on the hilltop off Fogarty Road, holding roughly 2.5 to 3 days of supply for the district. District-wide, Consolidated WD #1 serves about 3,045 people through 1,217 connections.

The numbers that matter

  • Lead: The district’s 90th-percentile lead result was 1.7 µg/L — well under the 15 µg/L action level — and the town’s service-line inventory found no lead service lines (and none of unknown status) anywhere in the system. One caveat worth knowing: in the May–June round, a single sampled home in WD #1 did exceed the action level at its own tap. That points to household plumbing, not the town system — which is why the report advises running the cold tap before drinking if water has sat overnight, and using only cold water for cooking and baby formula.
  • Disinfection byproducts (formed when chlorine meets organic matter) were measured at the Speigletown Pump Station: HAA5 averaged 38.0 µg/L (limit 60) and TTHMs averaged 47.6 µg/L (limit 80) — both compliant.
  • PFOA (“forever chemical”) in the Troy supply measured about 2 nanograms per liter, one-fifth of the state’s 10 ng/L limit.
  • Fluoride is back in the supply after a 2021–22 suspension caused by supply-chain issues.

Worried about lead in your home?

The town will help. Contact Shawn Cross, Operator in Responsible Charge, at 518-753-9982 or 518-461-3350 to ask about testing. And if you haven’t yet sent the Water Department a photo of your service line connection, that’s part of how the town keeps its lead-free inventory current.

Read it yourself

The full report (PDF) is on the town website, and past years are collected on our Documents & Forms page. Questions about your water bill or service? See Water & Sewer on our Services page.


Summarized from the Town of Schaghticoke Annual Drinking Water Quality Report for 2025. Water questions: Shawn Cross, 518-753-9982 · EPA Safe Drinking Water Hotline, 800-426-4791 · Rensselaer County Health Department, 518-270-2711.

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