The Water Commissioners of the Town of Waterford provide drinking water through 3,000 service connections to a population of approximately 9,800 people.  In May 2009, the water treatment plant serving the town was decommissioned due to the PCB dredging project in the Hudson River. Since that time water has been purchased from the City of Troy or the City of Cohoes under a long term contract. The water source for the City of Troy is the Tomhannock Reservoir, a man made reservoir 6 ½ miles northeast of the city. The reservoir is 5 ½ miles long and holds 12.3 billion gallons when full. Water flows from the reservoir by gravity where seasonally potassium permanganate is added and then at the Melrose Chlorination Station the water is pre-disinfected with chlorine dioxide. The water then flows to the John P. Buckley Water Treatment Plant (WTP) a conventional water treatment plant utilizing coagulation, flocculation, sedimentation, filtration, chlorination and fluoridation processes.  Water from Cohoes is obtained from the Mohawk River.  Water is pumped from the National Grid Canal located on North Mohawk Street up to the 75 million gallon Raw Water Storage Reservoir on Upper Vliet Blvd. The treatment process at Cohoes consists of: potassium permanganate addition for taste and odor control; coagulation and flocculation using aluminum sulfate; sedimentation; filtration; pH adjustment with caustic soda for corrosion control along with a ortho-phosphate corrosion inhibitor for iron and manganese control and post chlorination to prevent bacterial contamination.

The Water Commissioners of the Town of Waterford encourage water conservation. There are a lot of things you can do to conserve water in your own home. Conservation tips include:

• Only run the dishwasher and clothes washer when there is a full load

• Use water saving shower heads

• Install faucet aerators in the kitchen and the bathroom to reduce the flow from 4 to 2.5 gallons per minute

• Water gardens and lawn for only a couple of hours after sunset

• Check faucets, pipes and toilets for leaks and repair all leaks promptly