If you live in the City of Saratoga Springs you might be interested in knowing
WHERE YOUR DRINKING WATER COMES FROM and a little history of the City's Public Drinking Water Supply WRITTEN BY TIMOTHY WALES, PE PHOTOS PROVIDED BY SARATOGA ROOM, SARATOGA PUBLIC LIBRARY
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ave you ever turned on your faucet and wondered where the water flowing out comes from? The City of Saratoga Springs is not located near a major fresh water source, making provision of reliable and safe drinking water somewhat of a challenge. Presently, the City has four main sources of drinking water. These include Loughberry Lake, the Geyser Crest groundwater well field, and both a surface water impoundment and a groundwater well field at Bog Meadow. Development of a public water supply and delivering it safely to City residents has a long and storied history just like the City itself. Responsibility and control of a public water supply really began on April 17, 1826 when the NYS Legislature officially created the Village of Saratoga Springs. At that time, the Village was served by a series of public and private wells dug along Broadway, Church and Washington Streets, a small impoundment on Village Brook and a reservoir in the Town of Greenfield. Water was often delivered to homes by “water wagons.” Early water pipes consisted of hollowed out logs and later, barrel stave pipes with metal strapping. In the mid-1800s the growing Village needed a larger and more reliable water supply. From 1870 to 1871 the Village constructed an impoundment of the Loughberry stream to create the City’s first major water supply source, now called Loughberry Lake. An early water works with water turbines and steam driven pumps was also constructed to pressurize a new water distribution system for home delivery and firefighting. Cast Iron water mains were introduced replacing wooden pipes. Residential water meters began to be installed around 1900.
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In the early 1900s filtration and disinfection processes were added at the City water works to make the water supply cleaner and protect it from bacterial contamination. The present-day water treatment plant on Marion Avenue was built in 1935, along with a 5-million-gallon water storage impoundment off North Broadway. Settling and filtration processes were added to the Marion Avenue water treatment plant in the 1960s and 1970s. Further upgrades in the last two decades have added modern process improvements such as UV disinfection and on-site emergency power, enabling the City to provide the safe and resilient drinking water supply that we have today. The other three water supply sources have a more recent origin. In 1965 a surface impoundment and pumping station at Bog Meadow was constructed as a supplemental water source to meet increasing water demand and to be more resilient to drought conditions. In 1979, the City purchased the Geyser Crest well field and pumping facility to further supplement the City’s water supply and to provide disinfection and pressurization to the distribution system, primarily serving the west side saratogaTODAYnewspaper.com
