Buffalo draws its drinking water from the Niagara River, just above the thundering falls that give the region its identity. The city’s two water treatment plants — the Colonel Francis G. Ward Pumping Station and the newer facility on Porter Avenue — process roughly 65 million gallons per day for the city and surrounding suburbs. The water starts clean enough. What happens between the source and the tap is where it gets complicated.
The Niagara River: Beauty and Burden
The Niagara River connects Lake Erie to Lake Ontario, carrying the entire outflow of the upper Great Lakes. That’s an enormous volume of water — and with it comes the accumulated contamination of every upstream source.
The river corridor is home to multiple Superfund sites. Industrial operations on both the American and Canadian sides deposited decades of chemical waste along its banks. The most infamous is Love Canal — the Hooker Chemical dump site in Niagara Falls that became the catalyst for the entire Superfund program in 1980.
Love Canal contaminated soil and groundwater with over 80 different chemicals, including dioxin, benzene, and chlorinated solvents. While direct migration of Love Canal contaminants into Buffalo’s drinking water intake is unlikely given the distance and dilution, the site represents the broader pattern of industrial disposal along the Niagara corridor that continues to affect regional water quality.
The EPA’s Great Lakes National Program Office has identified the Niagara River as one of 43 Areas of Concern in the Great Lakes basin, citing legacy contamination from chemical manufacturing, steel production, and improper waste disposal.
Lead Service Lines: Buffalo’s Infrastructure Challenge
Buffalo’s water distribution system dates to the late 19th century. Like Rochester, Syracuse, and other upstate New York cities of that era, lead was the pipe material of choice for service lines connecting mains to homes.
The Buffalo Water Authority has estimated that approximately 18,000 to 22,000 lead service lines remain in the system. The city treats its water with orthophosphate for corrosion control, which builds a mineral layer inside pipes that reduces lead dissolution. Buffalo’s lead levels have consistently tested below the EPA action level of 15 parts per billion at the 90th percentile.
But “below the action level” is a regulatory threshold, not a health guarantee. The EPA and CDC have stated there is no safe level of lead exposure, particularly for children. Buffalo’s oldest housing stock — concentrated in neighborhoods like the East Side, Black Rock, and parts of the West Side — coincides almost perfectly with the areas most likely to have lead service lines.
New York State has mandated a lead service line inventory and replacement timeline, pushing cities toward full replacement. Buffalo has been ramping up replacement efforts, but the scale and cost — often $5,000 to $15,000 per line — make this a decade-long project.
PFAS: The Emerging Concern
Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances have been detected in the Niagara River and in treated drinking water samples from Buffalo-area utilities. PFAS contamination in the Niagara region is linked to manufacturing facilities, military installations (including the former Niagara Falls Air Reserve Station), and firefighting foam use at commercial airports.
The EPA’s 2024 PFAS drinking water standards set maximum contaminant levels for six PFAS compounds, including PFOA and PFOS at 4 parts per trillion each. Buffalo Water Authority has been monitoring PFAS levels and investing in treatment upgrades to meet these new standards.
The challenge with PFAS is that conventional water treatment — coagulation, sedimentation, chlorination — doesn’t effectively remove them. Granular activated carbon (GAC) or ion exchange systems are required, representing significant capital investment for any utility serving a population of Buffalo’s size.
Combined Sewer Overflows and Stormwater
Buffalo operates a combined sewer system that handles both sanitary waste and stormwater. During heavy precipitation, the system overflows into the Niagara River, the Buffalo River, and Lake Erie. The Buffalo Sewer Authority has documented dozens of CSO outfall points throughout the city.
A long-term control plan has been in development, and green infrastructure investments — permeable pavement, bioswales, expanded tree canopy — are being deployed to reduce stormwater volume entering the combined system. But full CSO abatement in a city with Buffalo’s rainfall patterns and aging infrastructure is a massive, multi-billion-dollar undertaking.
Lake Erie: Algal Blooms Move East
While Buffalo draws primarily from the Niagara River, Lake Erie’s eastern basin is part of the same system. The western basin — near Toledo — has experienced severe harmful algal blooms driven by phosphorus runoff from Ohio and Indiana farmland. These blooms have been creeping eastward in recent years.
Buffalo’s intake location and the depth of the eastern basin provide some buffer, but rising lake temperatures and increasing nutrient loading mean the city can’t assume immunity. Monitoring for microcystins and other cyanotoxins has become a standard part of Buffalo’s water quality program.
Environmental Justice
Water quality burdens in Buffalo are not evenly distributed. The city’s East Side — predominantly Black and low-income — has some of the oldest housing stock, the highest likelihood of lead plumbing, and the closest proximity to legacy industrial sites. Environmental justice advocates have pushed for prioritized lead line replacement and enhanced monitoring in these communities.
The Tonawanda Coke Corporation site, north of the city, was found to have released benzene and other carcinogens for years before being shut down in 2018. Nearby communities bore the health burden of those emissions, and groundwater contamination from the site remains under investigation.
What Buffalo Residents Can Do
Buffalo’s tap water meets all current federal standards, and the Water Authority publishes annual water quality reports. But residents — especially those in older homes — should take proactive steps:
- Request a lead test — the Buffalo Water Authority offers free testing for residents concerned about lead exposure.
- Flush your pipes — run cold water for 1-2 minutes before using it for drinking or cooking, especially first thing in the morning.
- Use cold water for cooking — hot water dissolves lead more readily from pipes and fixtures.
- Check if you qualify for lead line replacement — the city is prioritizing replacements in high-risk areas.
- Install a point-of-use filter — NSF 53-certified filters remove lead; NSF 401 or P473-certified filters address PFAS.
If you’re concerned about your water quality, a certified water treatment professional can help you test your water and recommend the right solution for your home.