City of Rochester, New York Department of Environmental Services Bureau of Water A Pocket History of the Rochester Water Works Pure and Wholesome Water Since 1876 N W E MCWA INTAKE LAKE ONTARIO S PIPE MCWA LOW-LIFT PUMP STATION MCWA IRONDEQUOIT SHOREMONT PLANT ROUTE 104 IRONDEQUOIT BAY MT. READ BOOSTER STATION ROUTE 590 ROCHESTER COBBS HILL ERIE CANAL RESERVOIR FAIRPORT PITTSFORD PINNACLE HIGHLAND TEE RESERVOIR ERIE CANAL ROUTE 490 THRUWAY GENESEE RIVER CONDUIT I CONDUIT II ROUTE 390 CONDUIT III RUSH MENDON RESERVOIR ROUTE 251 AVON LIMA 60” HEMLOCK CANANDAIGUA PIPE TUNNEL CONDUIT ROUTES 5 & 20 HEADER STRUCTURE CURVED DAM HEMLOCK TREATMENT PLANT LAKE HEMLOCK LAKE CANADICE Hemlock Lake Auxiliary Spillway A Snapshot of Rochester’s Water System Today The “Upland” Sources is removed by filtration and the water is The primary sources of the City’s water then disinfected through addition of chlo- supply are Hemlock and Canadice Lakes, rine. Fluoride is added to the water as a located about 30 miles south of Rochester. public health measure, and small amounts of other chemicals may be added to aid in Hemlock Lake is about seven miles long, a the filtration and disinfection process. little more than a half-mile wide, and up to 90 feet deep. Canadice Lake, lying parallel Flowing Home, Downhill and to the east of Hemlock Lake, is about Water from the filtration plant flows three miles long, one-third mile wide and through a two-mile tunnel to the Conduit up to 95 feet deep. In 2010, the City sold Header Structure, where it enters a system 7000 acres of watershed property sur- of iron and steel conduits which convey rounding these lakes to New York State. the water to the city. With the exception Protection of the watershed property is of the treatment plant, the entire water in accord with the New York State Open system stretching from Hemlock Lake to Space Conservation Plan. Access to the the city is gravity-fed, requiring no costly property is strictly regulated by New pumping operations. This design is attrib- York State Department of Environmental uted to the original designers (circa 1873.) Conservation. Water passes through Rush Reservoir—a The Plant & the Process transmission reservoir located in the Town The Hemlock Lake Water Filtration Plant, of Rush as it continues its trip northward in service since 1993, filters and treats to either Highland or Cobbs Hill Reser- the water from the two lakes. Water from voir. From there it flows by gravity through Hemlock Lake is drawn in through an almost 600 miles of distribution mains to intake pipe to the low-lift pump station reach homes and businesses in the city. where it is pumped to the filtration plant. Great Lake Water, Too! Water from Canadice Lake flows by In addition to its own Upland Lake sup- gravity down the Canadice Lake Outlet to ply, the City purchases Lake Ontario water the Curved Dam located near Route 15A. from the Monroe County Water Author- There, it enters a concrete conduit and ity (MCWA). Water is drawn from Lake flows by gravity either into the treatment Ontario through an intake pipe and pumped plant or Hemlock Lake. to the MCWA’s Shoremont Plant where it is At the treatment plant, the water treat- treated and disinfected. Lake Ontario water ment process involves coagulation, filtra- is pumped into the city distribution system tion and disinfection. During coagulation, primarily in the area of Mt. Read Boulevard chemicals are added to untreated water, and West Ridge Road. The volume of pur- causing the natural particles to clump to- chase varies from 2 to 26 million gallons per gether into larger particles called floc. Floc day, depending on the season. Evolution of the Rochester Water System Test of Holly System, 1874 Residents and businesses in Rochester, along with many of their suburban neighbors, are fortunate to be served by a reliable, historic, gravity-fed water system that was built to last. Many of its original reservoirs, mains and structures have passed the test of time and still serve their intended purposes (thanks to vision- ary planners and designers over a century ago). The following timeline is an overview of how the system works, and illustrates how Rochester’s water supply, conduit, storage and distribution systems evolved from the frontier “boom town” days to state-of-the-art facilities which support, supply and protect a modern community. Water Transmission Conduit Installation Responding to the Need Legislature for a second Rochester water company, but due to debates over public financing, no work was accomplished Drinking1820s-1840s water for the citizens of before the effort was interrupted by the Rochester (incorporated in 1834) was Civil War. Following the Civil War, the obtained either from private or public company began construction in 1867, wells or from cisterns, which collected only to go bankrupt later that year. rain water. During this period, the pri- The City acquired the assets of the mary concern of community leaders was company in 1882. maintaining an ample supply of water for firefighting purposes. The purity of the water was a low priority, comparatively. A1872 Board of Water Commissioners was formed by an act of the NY State Legislature. The Board appointed New1835 York State Legislature granted a J. Nelson Tubbs as Chief Engineer, charter to develop Rochester’s first J. L. Nichols and Emil Kuichling as private water company. Unable to agree Assistant Engineers to design the City’s on a plan to supply water and other water systems. Design of two water urgent demands, the Common Council systems commenced. The Holly Fire instead authorized construction of ad- Protection System would use river water ditional wells and cisterns. pumped from the Genesee River. A second system for potable purposes would be designed using a gravity-fed A1852 cholera epidemic swept through the system from Hemlock Lake. city, dramatically demonstrating the need for a pure, safe water supply. Land1873 for reservoirs in Rush and at A group of concerned citizens moved Highland Park was purchased by the City. to secure a charter from the NY State Building an Infrastructure Keeping Pace with Progress 1873-74 The Holly Fire Protection System was A1877 telegraph line was strung between constructed so that steam-driven pumps Hemlock Lake and the city in support could bring Genesee River water up of water system operations. It was later to high pressure for fire protection in converted to a telephone line, which, at the City’s downtown commercial and the time, was the longest in the world. industrial areas. The pumping station was located on Brown’s Race. A test of the Holly system on Feb. 18, 1874, at Main Because1893-94 of the City’s fast growing popula- and State Streets shot a 4-inch stream of tion and increasing demand for water, a water 294 feet into the air. second transmission conduit (Conduit II) was added between Hemlock Lake and Rochester, which included a 6 foot-high, 2 mile-long, horseshoe-shaped tunnel, a 1,550 foot-long steel intake pipe and two structures called “overflows.” These overflows were designed as safety valves to prevent water pressure from rupturing the tunnel and to discharge water from the conduits in emergencies. Holly Pump Station The1873-76 domestic water system was con- structed to supply the city with drinking water from Hemlock Lake. The project included running a transmission conduit (Conduit I) from the north end of the Lake to reservoirs located at Rush and what is now Highland Park, and develop- ing a distribution system of water pipes within the city. The work force used to Overflow 1, 1894 build the water system consisted of 700 to 900 men. 1901 Hemlock Lake water entered the distribu- A gatehouse was constructed over the tion system for the first time on Jan. 23, gates at Hemlock that regulated the flow 1876, and was being delivered to custom- of water from the intake into the tunnel. ers throughout the city by September. The original distribution system con- sisted of 58 miles of pipe, 521 hydrants The1904 Upper Gatehouse at Highland Reser- and 27 water troughs and supplied 2,700 voir was constructed, replacing a tempo- customers. By 1880, the Rochester Water rary wooden building over the stop-gates Works was supplying an average of 4.5 which had been erected in 1894. million gallons of water to the people of Rochester everyday. of the Hemlock Tunnel) and the Pinnacle Tee. Eight truss bridges were built along this route over Honeoye Creek to carry an access road for conduit maintenance. The1917-19 “Curved Dam” was constructed on Canadice Lake Outlet, which diverted Canadice Lake water through a 5-foot diameter concrete pipeline into Hemlock Lake, providing a new water source and enhancing the total supply by 25 percent. Hemlock Gatehouse, 1901 Satisfying a Growing Thirst A1925 chlorinator was installed on the outlet from Rush Reservoir. Backing Up the System Land1904 on Cobbs Hill was purchased for construction of a third City reservoir. A1934 pump station and chlorinator were Cobbs1905-08 Hill Reservoir was constructed built on Dewey Avenue, just south of with a capacity of 144 million gallons. Ridge Road, that could draw up to 4 mil- lion gallons of water per day from East- Two new gatehouses and a new trans- man Kodak’s water mains to provide an mission conduit were built from Cobbs alternate source of water during Hill down Highland Avenue to Clinton emergencies and potentially satisfy an Avenue, which then connected to an increasing demand. existing conduit on Clinton Avenue just north of Elmwood Avenue.