Municipal Water

Unlike many areas of the country, the Finger Lakes Region is blessed with a diverse and abundant supply of fresh drinking water. The most common sources of municipal water are Water Wells and the Lakes themselves. The City of Rochester as an example, gets most of its water from Hemlock and Canadice Lakes located approximately 30 miles to the south. To subsidize its demand, the city purchases water wholesale from the Monroe County Water Authority's Lake Ontario Supply.

Coagulating chemicals are added to the lake water to aid in particle and turbidity filtration. The water is then filtered and chlorinated to disinfect and protect it from recontamination over its journey through miles of pipeline.

Unlike most water wells, Lake Water Supplies are subject to rapidly changing conditions in weather from precipitation, runoff, wind and temperature. Also affecting surface sources are conditions caused by human interaction, seasonal demands, algae blooms and foreign invaders such as zebra mussels and non-indigenous aquatic vegetation. More recently, Lake Water Supplies have had to contend with parasites that are difficult to detect and kill, pathogenic organisms as well as chemicals that have been identified in our lakes, rivers and streams.

Municipal Well Water

Although most large communities get their water from area lakes, many rural communities rely on a water well as their source of drinking water.

Unlike a lake or river, Well Water is pumped from deep within the earth and is referred to as groundwater. This feature typically allows well water a higher level of protection from rapid weather fluctuations and the direct influence from humanity and foreign invaders. Consequently, well water is normally more consistent in its quality and usually requires less treatment and monitoring to provide safe drinking water.

As its name implies, groundwater from a well is exposed to the geology of the earth around it. The same natural barrier that protects it from surface contamination may be dissolved in the water, and therefore well water is often but not always higher in earth minerals. Limestone hardness, iron, manganese, magnesium, sulfate, sodium, chlorides and sometimes hydrogen sulfide are a few of the naturally occurring minerals that can sometimes be present in well water. These minerals, while normally harmless may present an inconvenience or be aesthetically displeasing.

Unfortunately, although well water is generally more protected from contamination then that of surface water, the protection of the earth does not completely exclude water wells from potential contamination. The biggest advantage that a properly constructed water well provides is that the water in the ground has already been treated by the best purifier known to man … Mother Earth!

As previously stated, most larger communities get their water from surface water supplies. This is due in part to aesthetic quality, but more importantly, larger communities have a need for the higher quantities available in the lakes.

Many small communities have abandoned their well systems in favor of the larger surface water supplies to meet the demands of growth or in some cases, improve quality. In contrast, many other communities in the United States have abandoned their surface water supplies and returned to Well Water to reduce the high cost and maintenance of treating surface water.