Water

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The Syracuse Water Department is responsible for constructing, maintaining, and operating all necessary and desirable facilities for the supply and distribution of a safe, potable water supply for the City of Syracuse. For a description of the water system and information about the quality of the water that is supplied by the Syracuse Water Department, see the Consumer Confidence Report. This includes information both New York State Department of Health and United States Environmental Protection Agency regulations require we provide to our customers. The Newsletter also contains the latest news and information about your water system. To view the newsletter see the Current Drinking Water Report. You will need Acrobat Reader to view the document.

As a reminder, City water bills are the responsibility of the owner of the property where the service was provided, and therefore are sent to the owner of the property. Landlords and tenants should make other arrangements to obtain billing information if the water bill, by lease agreement, is the responsibility of the tenant.

Water Notices

Drinking Water Public Notice | UV Disinfection (April 2026)

Our water system recently violated a drinking water requirement. Even though this is not an emergency, as our customers, you have a right to know what happened, what you should do, and what we did (are doing) to correct this situation.

Our water system, City of Syracuse Water, was required to maintain a specified level of treatment to address Cryptosporidium. This is not an emergency. If it had been, you would have been notified within 24 hours. The ultraviolet disinfection system operation reports for the Woodland and Westcott facilities do not currently provide sufficient information to determine whether the required level of Cryptosporidium inactivation is being achieved in accordance with the New York State Sanitary Code. It should be noted that the City of Syracuse samples for Cryptosporidium each month in both source water intakes. No Cryptosporidium has been detected this year.

Drinking Water Public Notice | UV Disinfection (April 2026)(PDF, 669KB)

 

 

 

 

Drinking Water Public Notice | High Turbidity (April 2026)

Our water system recently violated a drinking water standard. At this time there is no public health concern. This violation was due to a rise in turbidity at our source, Skaneateles Lake. The drinking water regulations require us to mail this notice to our customers when this type of violation occurs in an effort to ensure the public is informed on drinking water issues. Although this situation does not require that you take immediate action, as our customers, you have a right to know what happened, what you should do, and what we are doing to correct this situation.

 

The results of samples collected from Skaneateles Lake on March 16, 2026 showed turbidity levels above the maximum allowable standard of 5 Nephelometric Turbidity Units (NTU). During this period the turbidity reached a maximum level of 9.75 NTU. Elevated levels of turbidity can interfere with disinfection and may indicate the presence of disease-causing organisms.

Drinking Water Public Notice | Turbidity Notice March 2026(PDF, 335KB)

Drinking Water Public Notice | Failure to Replace Lead Service Lines (December 2025)

Our water system recently violated a drinking water requirement. Even though this is not an emergency, as our customers, you have a right to know what happened, what you should do, and what we did (are doing) to correct this situation.

We routinely sample water at consumers’ taps for lead. The tests from the January-June 2024 sampling period showed lead levels in the water above the limit, or “action level,” so we are required to replace lead service lines in the distribution system. Lead service line replacement should have been installed by July 2025, but installation is incomplete. Read more in the notice below.

Failure to Replace Lead Service Lines Notice December 2025(PDF, 243KB)

 

 

Interested in learning more about the projects the Department of Water is working on? 

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