That is until now. Chris Buckley, who heads the Village of Caledonia Department of Public Works, received notification from the New York State Department of Health that they were recognizing the village’s municipal water system for maintaining its fluoride residual levels for 24 straight months. Caledonia was the only system in Livingston County to accomplish this level of quality and stability in its public water and one of only 25 water systems in the state to achieve it. James Mazurowski, director of Livingston County Environmental Health, said the Caledonia water operators are very diligent and conscientious at maintaining the water treatment facility.

   DPW workers who are certified water operators take daily samples for testing. One sample per month is sent to the NY State Health Department for testing of fluoride levels that must fall between 1.0 and 1.1 milligrams per liter. Samples taken from the Caledonia system fell within that range for a 24 month period.

   Mayor Joe Caluorie said he is very proud of the recognition from the health department and attributes it to the dedicated service of Buckley, Bob Frew and the entire DPW crew that keep the mains, distribution pipes and hydrants in good working order.

   "Chris and Bob are very dedicated to the operation of the water system. Many people, including myself, before I became mayor, don’t appreciate what it takes to provide them with clean, safe drinking water at their faucets. It’s nice for me and the board to know that we have people in that department that do a great job," Caluorie commented.

   Buckley said maintaining a water system that is safe for public consumption is a daily job for water operators. "Either myself or Bob Frew is in this water plant every morning, seven days a week, 365 days a year, " Buckley said.

   The system pumps an average of 230,000 gallons of water a day to its 2,500 customers, but before it reaches the faucet in your kitchen, it goes through a treatment process. Water is pumped from the well to the air stripper housed across the street inside the treatment plant. After it goes through the air stripper to remove any volatile organic compounds, the water is treated with fluoride to promote healthy teeth and gums, chlorine for disinfection (state mandated) and phosphates that reduce mineral content.

   It’s unique for a small village to maintain and operate its own water system and Buckley says his department takes a lot of pride in their job of providing clean and safe water for public consumption, and at a reasonable cost to customers who pay the village $2.25 per thousand gallons plus a $20 flat fee. A professional magazine for department of public works employees was so impressed with the job Buckley and the rest of his crew do in maintaining the water system that they featured him in a recent issue.

   Customers can rest assured that when they turn on the faucet anywhere in the Village of Caledonia, they are getting water that has been maintained, treated, cleaned and tested for purity, every day of the year.

   Just don’t take their word for it, read the water quality report that is made public each year.