New York City water supply system
A combination of aqueducts, reservoirs, and tunnels supplies fresh water to New York City.
Until the eighteenth century, New York City solely depended on primitive means, such as wells and rainwater reservoirs to collect water for daily use.
The first public well was dug in Bowling Green in 1677, and the first reservoir was built on the East Side of Manhattan in 1776 after the population grew up to 22,000.
For the first two centuries of European settlement in Manhattan, it was the main water supply system for the growing city.
Later, the city was aware of its deteriorated water quality, owing to its rapid population growth (60,000 to 200,000 from 1800 to 1830), which had a considerable danger of causing epidemics.
Mains under Broadway and the Bowery delivered the water to hydrants on Pearl, William, Hudson, and a dozen other major streets, in six-, ten-, and twelve-inch pipes, delivering water to a height of 60 feet above the highest streets.
From 1950 to 1964, Rondout, Neversink, Pepacton and Cannonsville reservoirs were established successively to complete the Delaware System.
[citation needed] Responsibility for the city water supply is shared among three institutions: the New York City Department of Environmental Protection (DEP), which operates and maintains the system and is responsible for investment planning; the New York City Municipal Water Finance Authority (NYW), which raises debt financing in the market to underwrite the system's costs; and the Water Board, which sets rates and collects user payments.
It is a public-benefit corporation created in 1985 pursuant to the New York City Municipal Water Finance Authority Act.
It sets water and sewer rates for New York City sufficient to pay the costs of operating and financing the system, and collects user payments from customers for services provided by the water and wastewater utility systems of the City of New York.
Two-fifths of the watershed is owned by the New York City, state, or local governments, or by private conservancies.
The rest of the watershed is private property that is closely monitored for pollutants; development upon this land is restricted.
[15] The water is monitored by robotic buoys that measure temperature as well as pH, nutrient, and microbial levels in the reservoirs.
Ultraviolet treatment was seen as the least risky way to control such microorganisms and avoid higher levels of chlorination, which can lead to unintended health effects.
[20][21] The facility was constructed 160 feet (49 m) under Van Cortlandt Park in the Bronx and filters water delivered by the New Croton Aqueduct.
[21] The plant was built after the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the U.S. Department of Justice and the State of New York filed suit against the city in 1997 for violating the Safe Drinking Water Act and the New York State Sanitary Code.
[15] The three tunnels are: The distribution system is made up of an extensive grid of water mains stretching approximately 6,800 miles (10,900 km).
The samples are then tested for microorganisms, toxic chemicals, and other contaminants that could potentially harm users of the water supply system.
[29] In 2013 work began on a 2.5-mile (4.0 km) bypass tunnel under the Hudson River, the largest construction project in DEP's history.
According to Eric A. Goldstein, a senior lawyer for the Natural Resources Defense Council: "This is no time to let down one’s guard".
