Is It the Water? Why New York Water Matters for Pizza

Ask anyone why New York pizza tastes the way it does and you’ll hear it within ten seconds: “It’s the water.” Some people call it a myth. Some pizzerias outside the city have shipped New York water across the country to prove it isn’t.

I came to pizza from chemical engineering, so I don’t like answers based on legend. I like answers based on what’s actually in the glass. And after years of working with dough every day, my answer is this: yes, the water matters. But not because of some secret ingredient. It matters because of what isn’t in it.

What’s in New York City water

More than 90% of New York’s water comes from the Catskill and Delaware watersheds, a system of reservoirs that reaches up to 125 miles north of the city. The source is so clean that New York is one of only five large U.S. cities that doesn’t need to filter most of its supply.

According to the city’s 2025 Drinking Water Supply and Quality Report, New York tap water averages:

• Hardness: about 32 mg/L (roughly 2 grains per gallon)

• Calcium: about 9 mg/L

• pH: about 7.3

Water under about 60 mg/L of hardness is classed as soft. New York sits well below that. It’s soft, low in dissolved minerals, and very low in metals and other impurities.

Why clean water matters to dough

Here’s the part people usually miss. Pizza dough is a living system. Yeast eats sugars from the flour and produces gas, alcohol and the flavor compounds that make a good crust taste like more than bread. Anything in the water that stresses the yeast changes the result.

Metals. In brewing and baking, it’s well known that high levels of metals like iron and copper can stress yeast and slow fermentation. New York’s source water is exceptionally clean, so the yeast works without that interference. It ferments steadily, the way it’s supposed to.

Soft minerals. Calcium and magnesium tighten gluten, the protein network that gives dough its stretch. Very hard water can make dough stiff and slow it down. New York’s soft water gives a dough that’s relaxed and easy to stretch thin, exactly what a New York slice needs: a thin, foldable base with a light, open rim.

Neutral pH. Water close to neutral, like New York’s average of 7.3, doesn’t push the dough’s chemistry in either direction. That leaves the flavor to the fermentation.

Where it really shows: long fermentation

Our dough cold-ferments for 72 hours. That’s where the water really makes a difference.

In a same-day dough, small differences in water chemistry barely have time to matter. Over three days in the cold, everything adds up. Clean water means the yeast and the flour’s natural enzymes keep working evenly for the whole process. The result is a crust with deeper flavor, better browning and a lighter bite.

Some tests have found that people can’t easily tell pizzas apart in a blind tasting when only the water changes. I understand why. In a quick dough, the effect is small. But in a long, slow fermentation, I see it in the dough every day: how it rises, how it stretches, how it bakes.

Water is a factor, not the whole story

To be fair to every pizza maker outside New York: water alone doesn’t make a great slice. It works together with:

1. High-protein flour that builds a strong, chewy structure

2. Time: a slow, cold fermentation for flavor

3. Heat: very hot deck ovens that crisp the bottom and keep the inside tender

4. Hydration and handling: how much water goes in and how the dough is stretched

5. Experience: more than a century of New York pizza makers refining the style

Clean, soft water gives all of those a better starting point. That’s the real advantage New York has.

You can read more about the style in our guide: What Is New York-Style Pizza?

How we use it

At Nuovo York Pizza, we treat dough as a process we can measure. Water, flour, fermentation time and temperature, and oven heat are all variables, and we control each one. We even test our sauce to pH 4.2 every batch. You can see how we work on The Science page.

New York’s water is one of the variables we’re lucky to start with. The rest is our job.

If you want to taste the result, come by 105 E 9th St in the East Village. We’re open until 3am Sunday through Thursday and 4:30am Friday and Saturday. Start with a classic Margherita, and if you take some home, here’s how to reheat it so the crust stays crisp.