New York City water supply system

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New York City's water supply system has grown from a few wells on Manhattan Island to one of America's most extensive municipal systems. Today, it relies on a combination of tunnels, aqueducts and 19 reservoirs both in the city and far upstate to meet the daily needs of 8 million residents and countless visitors. Thanks to well protected wilderness watersheds, New York's water treatment is simpler than in other American cities. Downhill flow allows the system to do without pumps.

The complex system is divided into three separate systems:

• The Croton system, the oldest and smallest, sits in Westchester and Putnam Counties.
• The Catskill system, built decades later, is significantly larger then the Croton. In the early years of the 20th century, the city and state designated thousands of acres in the eastern Catskills to build two reservoirs that more than doubled the city's capacity.
• In the 1950s and 1960s, the city expanded its water system again, tapping the east and west branches of the Delaware River, as well as other tributaries of the Delaware and Hudson rivers to create the newest and largest of its three systems, the Delaware system, which provides around half of the city's water supply.

The Croton system is the source of numerous turbidity issues for the city's water. Engineering studies in 1903 also recognized that the clay of the steeply sloped Eastern Catskills turned the clear waters of the Schoharie and Esopus Creeks (which feed the Catskill system) muddy after storms. In addition, both the Cannonsville reservoir of the Delaware system, as well as many reservoirs within the Croton system have also had quality issues related to algeal blooms.

The city has sought to restrict development throughout its watershed. One of its largest watershed protection programs is the Land Acquisition Program, under which the New York City Department of Environmental Protection has purchased or protected through conservation easement over 70,000 acres (280 km²) since 1997.^[1]

[edit] Water tunnels

1. New York City Water Tunnel No. 1 was completed in 1917 and is expected to undergo extensive repairs upon completion of Tunnel No. 3 in 2021
2. New York City Water Tunnel No. 2 was completed in 1936.
3. New York City Water Tunnel No. 3 is the largest capital construction project in New York City's history. It is intended to provide the City with a critical third connection to its Upstate New York water supply system. The tunnel will eventually be more than 60 miles (97 km) long. Construction on the tunnel began in 1970 and is expected to be completed in 2020.

[edit] See also

• New York City Water Tunnel No. 3
• New York City Water System
• Environmental issues in New York City
• Croton Aqueduct
• NYC DEP Police
• Water supply and sanitation in the United States

[edit] References

• Galusha, Diane. Liquid Assets: A History of New York City's Water System, Purple Mountain Press, Fleischmanns, NY 1999. ISBN 0-916346-73-0.
• Koeppel, Gerard T. Water for Gotham: A History, Princeton University Press, Princeton, NJ 2000. ISBN 0-691-01139-7.

1. ^ "New York’s Water Supply May Need Filtering." 20 Jul 2006 The New York Times [1]

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