We explored the factors contributing to the taste disparity between drinking water in Long Island and the greater New York City and Westchester regions. Influenced by the discrepancies in the taste of drinking water we have independently noticed in our home counties (Lise is an NYC resident, Amelie is a Westchester resident, and Talia is a Long Island resident), we decided to research the underlying cause of these taste differences. What we found is that Long Island’s reliance on groundwater aquifers, which are prone to surface contamination and accumulate minerals such as calcium and magnesium, results in “hard water” with a metallic/chalky taste. There is also a major disparity between the Nitrate levels between NYC and Long Island. Extensive chemical treatment is required to address these introduced contaminants like nitrates, pesticides, and pharmaceuticals, making the water taste “worse” than NYC and Westchester water. While there wasn’t much data to be collected online, we conducted an in person experiment at STEAM where we gave participants a sample of both NYC water and Long Island water and without telling them which was which, out of 27 participants, 77.8% agreed that Long Island water tastes far worse than NYC and Westchester water.