Residents in Boiceville experience water outage from maligned water company

Dan Zelikman has had enough of the Hudson Valley Water Company.

He, along with 30 to 40 houses in the hamlet of Boiceville, have seen seven water interruptions in five years. Last fall, they endured 45 straight days without water after arsenic filters failed.

They’ve spent the last two days without water; it’s returned for now, but residents were told to expect further outages while repairs are made.

“When you can’t wash dishes, do laundry, brush your teeth, give your kids a bath, get them ready for school, it’s challenging,” Zelikman said. 

Much of his frustration comes from inaction; from both the water company and officials.

In January 2026, the state Department of Public Service released a 215-page report detailing problems with the Hudson Valley Water Company, or HVWC. It concluded that they are “either unwilling or unable to… provide safe, adequate, and reliable water service to its customers.”

The New York State Public Service Commission can’t replace the HVWC unless a willing entity comes forward to take control. But no one has stepped forward to replace them.

Zelikman would like to see the process play out like it did in the town of Willsboro in New York’s Essex County. In 2018, the town took over for the private Willsboro Bay Water Company and ran water services for constituents. The process was facilitated by the public service commission. Zelikman wants to see Ulster County government or the town of Olive find a solution after this latest outage. 

“In Essex County… officials basically called it an emergency, changed things around and brought and took over the system so that the community had water,” he said. “I understand there’s bureaucracy and paperwork and loopholes, but it’s this objective question of, do these people deserve water?”

Spectrum News 1 reached out to HVWC but did not immediately receive a response.