October 19th, 2017
HORNELL, NY – The DEC officially informed the city that they will now be requiring enhanced disinfection at the water pollution control plant in Hornell. Mayor Shawn Hogan explained the reason being is that some communities still rely on drinking water from a tributary down the line from where our water is discharged.
“We discharge our water into the Canisteo River, which flows into the Cohocton River, which the flows into the Chemung, and there are a number of communities that still use the Chemung for their drinking water,” said the Mayor, “So we will have new standards to meet to ensure their water is clean.”
The city received a grant for $25,000 to identify the best system to accomplish the disinfection, and it was determined that using ultraviolet light would be the best method, although expensive. This in turn means the city will be looking for another major capital upgrade to the plant down the road because of the new requirements.
Hogan concluded, “This will have to be something that the next administration deals with, whomever that may be.” Hogan is retiring at the end of the year.
