Government > Departments > Water and Water Supply > Six Mile Water Works

SIX MILE WATERWORKS

Six Mile Waterworks is located in the glacial sand plains of Albany’s Pine Bush. Its prime attraction is Rensselaer Lake, a 43-acre manmade water body which once served as the City of Albany’s first municipally-owned drinking water supply.

In 2002, the Albany Water Department took over operations at Six Mile with an eye toward developing it into an emergency water supply should a catastrophic event befall the City’s current drinking water system. Engineering and environmental planning for a proposed emergency water supply are continuing.

Constructed in 1851, Rensselaer Lake was created when the City built a dam across the Patroon Creek, six miles west of Albany’s City Hall (thus the name, Six Mile Waterworks). Some 1.5 million gallons of water flowed by gravity from the new reservoir each day to Bleecker Reservoir, where Bleecker Stadium stands today. The new reservoir helped to spawn westward expansion of the City by supplying drinking water to