Cobleskill Village Water Department – Schoharie County, New York

Barber-Florio Water Treatment Plant Water Treatment Plant
Dow Street, Cobleskill, NY 12043

Emergency On-call: 518-231-7701

Phone: (518) 234-2195

Office Hours: M-F 7:00am-3:30pm

Water Superintendent: Ian Hull

Water Department History

The Cobleskill water system had its beginnings in 1886 when Dow Reservoir and the basic distribution mains were constructed. The old gatehouse located in Dow Reservoir was the original treatment facility, containing a bed of sponges through which the raw water passed on its way to the village.

A more thorough treatment facility was constructed on East Street in about 1915, and this served the village until 1961 when the present building was constructed. This facility was a conventional clarification-followed-by-filtration treatment plant.

The year 1967 saw the completion of a second water source, Smith Reservoir, to meet the village’s increased water demands. With increased demands and treatment capacity, a second transmission main was constructed in 1974 to supply the distribution system with adequate pressure.

By the early 1980s, the two-reservoir supply system was again having difficulty meeting the village’s needs with an adequate safety margin. Therefore, a third raw water storage facility, Cobleskill’s Holding Pond, was completed in 1987 to store excess runoff, when available. This supply system should meet the needs of Cobleskill into the next century.

Of course, with additional capacity to store water came the need for additional treatment capacity. This, coupled with the fact that the original treatment facility had badly deteriorated, prompted the village to undertake the most recent project. Although primarily a renovation, the facility’s original treatment capacity was increased by approximately 50% with the addition of a third clarifier unit and a fourth filter. Outdated equipment was replaced with state-of-the-art treatment technology. This project was completed in 1989.