1945
median year homes were built
Source: Census ACS 2024 5-yr, B2503544%
of homes built before 1940
Source: Census ACS 2024 5-yr, B2503410
village wells, about 540 ft deep in the Magothy
Source: Village of Rockville Centre, 2025 Drinking Water Quality Report1893
year the village incorporated
Source: Wikipedia, "Rockville Centre, New York"A railroad village from 1893.
Wikipedia's history says the hamlet was named Rockville Centre in 1849 after Methodist preacher Mordecai "Rock" Smith, incorporated as a village in 1893, and grew in the late 1800s and early 1900s as a commuter town on the Long Island Rail Road. In the early 1940s it annexed the Mercy Medical Center property, adding 87 acres. The village covers about 3.4 square miles and is served by the Rockville Centre LIRR station.
The Census Bureau's latest five-year survey counts about 10,300 homes, with a median year built of 1945. 44% are older than 1940, 13% went up in the 1940s and 14% in the 1950s, so about 70% predate 1960; only 12% were built after 1980. 61% are single-family detached, but 31% are in buildings with five or more units, most of those in buildings of 20 or more. 75% are owner-occupied.
In houses that old, the main drain is often original cast iron or clay, and there may still be galvanized steel supply pipe. Slow drains in several fixtures, rust-colored water from one tap, or low pressure upstairs are the signs. In apartment and co-op buildings, the shared stacks and risers are usually the building's job; inside your unit, we can help.
Heating fuel.
The ACS shows 69% of Rockville Centre homes heat with utility gas, 18% with fuel oil and 11% with electricity. Switching from oil to gas means new gas piping to the equipment, and often to the water heater, range and dryer. We do the gas line work. We don't sell or deliver oil.
On the village sewer.
Nassau County's health department lists Rockville Centre as its own sewer authority, the Village of Rockville Centre (1 College Place, 516-678-9218), operating as a collection district only, which means the village's sewers carry the sewage into the county system for treatment. A backup that stops at your house is usually in your own line to the street; we clear it. If neighbors are backed up too, call the village.
The Mill River floods.
Patch reported in 2013 that at least 16 homes on Riverside Drive were flooded by the Mill River during Sandy in October 2012, and that the village was lobbying for money to fix the shoreline there. If your water heater or gas appliances sat in water, have them checked before you relight them. Because the village is sewered, a backwater (sewer check) valve on the house sewer line can keep a street-sewer backup from coming in through basement floor drains. We install them, with a village plumbing permit where required.
Water: Village of Rockville Centre Water Department.
Its 2025 report (May 2026) says the village pumps from 10 wells, on average 540 feet deep in the Magothy aquifer, its sole source, serving about 26,000 people through more than 70 miles of mains and four elevated tanks. The village raises the pH with lime or sodium hydroxide to cut corrosion of mains and household plumbing, has built a second iron removal facility, and adds a polyphosphate to keep iron from staining fixtures and laundry. The report says the water meets all standards except iron. Total hardness ran 3.1 to 30.7 mg/L, which is very soft water, and PFOS and PFOA were not detected in the source water in 2025. 1,4-dioxane ran up to 0.23 micrograms per liter, under the 1.0 limit. The village has a lead service line inventory; some lines are still listed as unknown, and you can ask the Water Department to inspect yours at (516) 678-9301.
The village raises the pH specifically to reduce corrosion of mains and in-house plumbing, but decades-old copper and galvanized lines still wear. If you want a filter, pick one certified for what you're worried about. We install whole-house and under-sink systems.
Permits and licensing: Village of Rockville Centre.
Rockville Centre is an incorporated village, so plumbing goes through the village Building Department at 110 Maple Avenue, not the Town of Hempstead. Village code says no one may do plumbing work or run a plumbing business in the village unless licensed by the Village of Rockville Centre, with insurance on file. A master plumber's license comes through the village Plumbers' Examining Board, by examination or, for plumbers licensed in a municipality with a written reciprocity agreement, by reciprocal approval. Licensees must carry $1 million primary and $2 million excess liability coverage. The department issues plumbing permits and has a separate gas permit application.
