Boil water advisory lifted after safety tests

City officials on Thursday morning lifted the boil water advisory issued for neighborhoods in and around downtown Rochester after a dead person was found in the Highland Park Reservoir.

Water quality tests confirmed the safety of the water supply, according to authorities. Draining, cleaning and refilling of the Highland Park Reservoir will continue through the next few months.

The Highland Park reservoir is one of three reservoirs within city limits, said Rochester’s commissioner of environmental services, Richard Perrin. In total, the reservoirs hold about 150 million gallons of usable water. Of that, about 18 million gallons is at Highland, he said. The Highland Park Reservoir will not be used again until it is drained and cleaned, which is expected to take roughly eight weeks, he said.

The city’s water is treated at a filtration plant in Hemlock, Livingston County, then travels through one of three reservoirs, located in Highland Park, Cobbs Hill Park and the town of Rush, which store the bulk of the drinking water used by city residents.

The Highland Park Reservoir, which is the smallest, serves downtown Rochester and an area extending west toward Interstate 390, north to Lexington Avenue and south through part of the 19th Ward and Plymouth-Exchange, according to a water supply map provided by the city of Rochester.

Areas surrounding the University of Rochester and Strong Memorial Hospital get their water from the Rush Reservoir, extending south along I-390 and east as far as Interstate 590.

The Cobbs Hill Reservoir’s coverage area is north and east of downtown, extending south a bit beyond Interstate 490, east to Interstate 590 and north to State Route 104.

Some sections of the city are supplied by Lake Ontario, others by both Lake Ontario and Hemlock Lake.

What if I live outside the city?

In Monroe County, Lake Ontario also supplies water to Greece, Hamlin, Clarkson, Sweden, Parma, Ogden, Riga, Gates, Chili, Wheatland, Irondequoit, Webster, most of Penfield and Perinton and part of Brighton, according to Monroe County Water Authority’s supply area map. Henrietta, Rush and Mendon’s water is derived from Hemlock Lake, as is part of Brighton’s.

And both Lake Ontario and Hemlock Lake provide water to Brighton, Penfield, Mendon, part of Perinton and most of Pittsford, as well as Victor and Farmington, Ontario County.

Lake Ontario also supplies water for some municipalities in Orleans, Genesee and Wayne counties and part of Caledonia, Livingston County. Hemlock Lake is the source of water for some Ontario County communities.