City Departments

Leonard Fucci
Chief Operator,
Water Filtration Plant

Annual drinking water quality report now available online

To comply with State regulations, the City of Hornell, annually issues a report describing the quality of your drinking water. The purpose of this report is to raise your understanding of drinking water and awareness of the need to protect our drinking water sources. To view this report click on the following link. 

Water is supplied to the Hornell Water Treatment Plant from three upland reservoirs owned and operated by the Hornell Water Department. Reservoir #1 was constructed on Seeley Creek in 1882 to serve as the source of supply water for the City of Hornell. This reservoir was destroyed by flood and replaced with the existing reservoir in 1936 and has a capacity of 114 million gallons. Reservoir #2 was constructed on Trout Run in 1910 and has a capacity of 110 million gallons. Reservoir #3 is located between #1 and #2 and was constructed in 1932 with a capacity of 146 million gallons. The total capacity of the reservoir system is more than adequate to supply the demands of the users of the system. A supplementary water supply is available from two wells located on the west side of Route 36a below the treatment plant. These wells have combined capacity of 2,000,000 gallons per day. Water from this source is disinfected through a chlorination process at the site. The quality of the water supplied by the system as verified by the testing results reported in this statement is excellent. High levels of turbidity have been experienced as a result of major storm runoff events.

The population served by the Hornell Department is approximately 12,000. The amount of water treated and used in 1997 was 918,220,000 gallons, and the daily average was 2,515,000 gallons.

Water treatment at the Hornell Water Treatment Plant consists of:

• Aeration: This process removes tastes and odors through oxidation
• Sedimentation and Clarification: Chemical coagulants are used to settle particles suspended in the water.
• Rapid Sand Filtration: Water is filtered through 4 rapid sand filter cells to remove any particulate matter. The filter bed is made up of anthracite, sand, and gravel.
• Chlorination: Chlorine gas is used to achieve disinfection of bacteria and other water borne organisms.

Treated Water Storage: A 2.5 million gallon steel tank located at the Filtration Plant is used to store finished water.

Water conservation helps the environment by preserving this natural resource. You can conserve water by:

• Checking for and repairing leeks inside and out of your home.
• Replacing older fixtures with water saving showerheads, faucet aerators, toilet dams, or low flush toilets.
• Using swimming pool covers to minimize evaporation.
• Watering lawns less frequently and preferably in early morning or late evening.

New York State requires water suppliers to notify their customers about the risks of cryptosporidiosis and giardiasis. Crytosporidiosis and giardiasis are intestinal illnesses caused by microscopic parasites. Crytosporidiosis can be very serious for people with weak immune systems. Individuals who are undergoing chemotherapy, dialysis or transplant patients, and people with crohn's disease or HIV infections should discuss with their health care providers the need to take extra precautions such as boiling water, using bottled water or a specially approved home filter. Individuals who think they may have cryptosporidiosis or giardiasis should contact their health care provider immediately. For additional information about cryptosporidiosis or giardiasis, please contact:

New York State Department of Health 

107 Broadway 

Hornell, New York 14843 

Phone: (607) 324-8371

On January 18th, 1997 the City of Hornell's water system was ordered by the Department of Health to notify City residents to boil water before drinking. The chlorine residual had dropped below the required minimum of .2 PPM at some locations in the system. This problem was caused by the failure of chlorine feed equipment at the purification facility. The equipment was repaired, chlorine residuals recovered, and the boil water order was lifted later that day. The Hornell Department of Public Works is presently constructing major improvements to the Hornell Water Filtration Plant including a major upgrade of the filtration system, chemical feed and clarification systems, and electrical control systems. In 2005 the City's standby well system was cleaned and checked. Necessary repairs to motors and controls were made and the system was tested to insure maximum pumping capacity.