Cornell Water Filtration Plant

Cornell University owns and maintains its own run-of-the-river water system: its main facility, the Cornell Water Filtration Plant serves a population of approximately 35,000 including students, faculty, staff, and the residents of the Forest Home community. The plant was built in 1927-28 and its operation began in early 1929. A dam and intake were built on Fall Creek, from which water flows to the plant through a cast iron main utilizing an 11 foot drop in elevation. There is also a pumping station directly across from the plant that can pump water to the plant if the gravity intake is out of service or demand is high. Today, the plant has an average demand of 2.0 MGD and can reasonably produce 3.6 MGD. Weekly water quality testing is performed by Cornell staff at several points around the system to ensure that water quality meets the requirements for the many purposes it serves: domestic day-to-day usage (health, food, hygiene), processes (labs, mechanical systems), irrigation (athletic fields, crops, livestock), and fire protection.