HYDROLOGY OF NEW YORK 



841 



3IUNICIPAJL WATER SUPPLIES IN "WESTERN NEAV YORK 1 



In 1894, in a paper read before the Buffalo Academy of Medi- 

 cine on The Application of Intermittent Filtration to Domestic 

 Filters, the writer stated that a number of years before he had 

 had occasion to examine somewhat in detail every possible source 

 from which either a temporary or permanent supply of potable 

 water could be drawn for the city of Rochester. In the course 

 of the study something like eighteen distinct sources were ex- 

 amined, with the result of showing that, taking into account every- 

 thing, the choice was really narrowed to Hemlock lake, the source 

 formerly selected, but which, while admittedly of unexceptionable 

 quality, was still, in the opinion of many citizens, hardly avail- 

 able as an additional supply by reason of the great distance 

 (thirty miles) which the water must be transported. 



The result of a fairly exhaustive examination was to show, 

 however, that taking into account quality as well as cost of ob- 

 taining a given quantity, it followed that Hemlock lake, even 

 though thirty miles distant, was by far the preferable source of 

 supply for the city of Rochester. 



Western New York, looked at casually, would be considered a 

 well-watered region, and since making the examination in ques- 

 tion it has always seemed an exceedingly interesting fact that 

 the repeated selection of Hemlock lake as a natural source of a 

 potable water supply for the city of Rochester, by all the engi- 

 neers who have examined the matter in detail since about 1860, 

 when it was first proposed, down to the present, should show 

 clearly that potable water of high quality and in large quantity 

 is in reality rather a scarce commodity in western New York. 



Since that time employment upon water supplies in different 

 parts of western New York has still further shown how exceed- 

 ingly scarce potable water is in this part of the State. Pure 

 water is a -scarce commodity here, and the study must be very 

 broad in order to select the most available and least expensive 

 supply of proper quality for a town. 



1 Partly condensed from Report of Executive Board of Rochester for 1800. 



