Rochester, New York draws its drinking water from two pristine Finger Lakes — Hemlock Lake and Canadice Lake — giving it one of the cleaner source waters in the Northeast. But between the source and your tap, things get complicated.
The Lead Service Line Problem
Like most older Northeastern cities, Rochester has thousands of lead service lines connecting water mains to homes built before the 1950s. The Monroe County Water Authority and City of Rochester have been working through a lead service line inventory required under the EPA’s revised Lead and Copper Rule, and the numbers aren’t small.
Estimates put the city’s lead service line count somewhere between 15,000 and 20,000 connections. The city launched an accelerated replacement program in 2024, but at the current pace, full replacement could take more than a decade.
Rochester hasn’t had a lead action level exceedance at the system level in recent testing. But individual homes with lead service lines, especially those with galvanized steel downstream of lead connections, can see elevated lead levels — particularly after periods of stagnation. The city adds orthophosphate to the water as a corrosion control measure, which helps form a protective coating inside lead pipes. It works, but it’s not a permanent fix.
PFAS: Industrial Legacy Meets Modern Testing
Rochester’s industrial history — Kodak, Xerox, Bausch & Lomb — left behind more than abandoned factories. Several former manufacturing sites around the city have documented PFAS contamination in soil and groundwater.
The Kodak Park site on Lake Avenue is one of the largest. The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation has been overseeing investigation and remediation of PFAS and other contaminants at the 1,300-acre complex. While the city’s drinking water comes from surface lakes rather than local groundwater, residents on private wells in surrounding Monroe County towns should pay close attention to PFAS testing results.
New York State adopted some of the strictest PFAS drinking water standards in the country in 2020 — 10 parts per trillion each for PFOA and PFOS. The EPA’s federal standard of 4 ppt for each compound, finalized in 2024, is even tighter. Rochester’s municipal supply has tested below both thresholds, but the margins aren’t always wide.
Lake Ontario and Algal Bloom Risks
While Rochester pulls its drinking water from the Finger Lakes, the city sits on the shore of Lake Ontario — and what happens in Lake Ontario affects the whole region. Harmful algal blooms driven by agricultural nutrient runoff and warming water temperatures have become a recurring issue across the Great Lakes.
Hemlock and Canadice Lakes have been relatively protected because their watersheds are mostly forested and the City of Rochester owns much of the surrounding land. That foresight from the early 1900s is paying off. But monitoring remains critical as climate patterns shift and development pressure grows.
Disinfection Byproducts
Rochester uses chlorine for primary disinfection, which means some formation of trihalomethanes (THMs) and haloacetic acids (HAAs) is inevitable. The city’s most recent Consumer Confidence Report shows THM levels within EPA limits but not negligible — typically running 40-60 parts per billion against a maximum contaminant level of 80 ppb.
For residents concerned about disinfection byproducts, a point-of-use activated carbon filter handles them effectively.
What Residents Can Do
If you live in Rochester or surrounding Monroe County:
- Check your service line material. The city’s service line inventory should tell you whether your connection is lead, copper, or galvanized steel. If it’s lead, consider a point-of-use filter certified for lead removal (NSF/ANSI 53) until replacement happens.
- Run your tap. If water has been sitting in pipes for more than six hours, run cold water for 2-3 minutes before drinking or cooking.
- Test your water. Monroe County offers periodic free lead testing. Private well owners should test for PFAS, nitrates, and coliform bacteria at minimum.
- Watch for advisories. The city posts water quality notices through Monroe County’s alert system.
If you’re concerned about your water quality, a certified water treatment professional can test your water and advise on the right filtration system for your home.
If you live in other parts of New York State, see our coverage of Buffalo water quality and Syracuse water quality.
Sources: City of Rochester Water Bureau, Monroe County Water Authority, NYS DEC, EPA SDWIS, USGS Water Resources