The water supply system of New York City is one of the city's most extensive water systems in the world. This complex system relies on a combination of waterways, reservoirs and tunnels to meet the daily needs of New York City's more than eight million inhabitants and many visitors.
Thanks to a well protected protected forest area, New York's water treatment process is simpler than in any other American city. One advantage of this system is that 95% of the total water supply is supplied by gravity. The other 5% needs to be pumped to maintain pressure, but this sometimes increases in times of drought when the reservoir is below normal levels.
The City has sought to limit its development across the watershed. One of the largest watershed protection programs is the Land Acquisition Program, where the New York Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) has purchased or protected, through conservation conservation, over 130,000 hectares (53,000 acres) since 1997.
Video New York City water supply system
Responsible agency
Responsibility for municipal water supplies 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; New York City Municipal Water Finance Authority ("NYW"), which increases debt financing in the market to bear the cost of the system; and the Water Council, which sets tariffs and collects user payments.
New York City Department of Environmental Protection
DEP has a workforce of more than 6,000 employees. These include the three responsible bureaus, respectively, the northern water supply system, the water and sewer operations of New York City, and wastewater treatment:
- The Water Supply Bureau manages, operates, and protects the northern water supply system of New York City to ensure the delivery of high quality drinking water in sufficient quantities. The Bureau is also responsible for the overall management and implementation of the $ 1.5 billion provision of the Watershed Protection Program.
- In addition to operating and maintaining water supplies and sewage systems, the Water Bureau and Operation Sewer are also responsible for the operation of Staten Bluebelt Island, a cost-effective, cost-effective alternative to storm sewers, which occupy about 15 square miles (39Ã, km) 2 ) land in the Richmond South area of ââStaten Island. This project protects rivers, ponds and other wetlands ("bluebelt"), allowing them to perform their natural functions in conveying, storing and filtering storm water.
- The Wastewater Treatment Bureau operates 14 water pollution control plants that handle an average of 1.5 billion billion US gallons (5.7 million m 3 ) of wastewater per day; 95 wastewater pump stations; eight dewatering facilities; 490 sewer regulator; and 7,000 miles (11,000 km) of intercepting gutters.
New York City Water City Financial Authority
NYW finances the capital needs of water and municipal sewer systems through the issuance of bonds, commercial paper, and other debt instruments. This is a public-benefit company created in 1985 under the New York City Municipal Water Authority Finance Act. The Authority is administered by seven members of the Board of Directors. Four members are ex officio members: Municipal Environmental Protection Commissioner, Director of City Management and Budget, City Financial Commissioner, and State Environment Conservation Commissioner. The remaining three members are public appointments: two by the Mayor, and one by the Governor.
New York City Water Board
The New York City Water Board assigns water and sewer tariffs to New York City sufficient to pay for operating costs and system financing, and collect user payments from customers for services provided by New York City's water and sewage utility systems. The five members of the Council are appointed for a two-year term by the Mayor.
Maps New York City water supply system
Infrastructure
The New York City water system consists of waterways, distribution pipes, reservoirs and water tunnels that channel drinking water to residents and visitors. A complete help map of this system is on display at the Queens Museum of Art. Until the early 21st century, some places in southeast Queens received their water from local wells of the former Jamaica Water Company.
Reservoirs and waterways
The water system has a storage capacity of 550 billion US dollars (2,1 ÃÆ' - 10 9 m 3 ) and provides more than 1.2 billion US dollars. gallon (4,500,000 m 3 ) per day from drinking water to more than eight million urban dwellers, one million other users in the four northern states adjacent to water supply systems, and visitors to the region. Three separate sub-systems, each consisting of aqueducts and reservoirs, carry water from Upstate New York to New York City:
- The New Croton Aqueduct, completed in 1890, brought water from the New Croton Reservoir in Westchester and Putnam county.
- The Catskill Aqueduct, completed in 1916, is significantly larger than New Croton and carries water from two reservoirs in the eastern Catskill Mountains.
- The Delaware Aqueduct, completed in 1945, tapped the Delaware River in the western Catskill Mountains and provided about half of New York City's water supply.
The last two water courses provide 90% of New York City's drinking water. Water from both water channels is stored first in the large Kensico Reservoir and further in the much smaller Hillview Reservoir closer to the city.
Brooklyn Reservoirs
Brooklyn has many water reservoirs; they can be seen on the 1864 map of Brooklyn Waterworks. They are listed below, from east to west:
- Hempstead Reservoir
- The Smith Pool
- Rockville Dam
- Valley Valley Pond
- Watts Pond
- Clear Stream Reservoir
- Brookfield Reservoir
- Conselyea Pool
- P. Cornell Pond
- Springfield Pond
- One Mile Pond
- Jamaican Reservoir
- Ridgewood Reservoir
- Mount Prospect Reservoir
Tunnels and distribution system
From the water flow Hillview reservoir by gravity through three tunnels beneath New York City, where water rises again to the surface under natural pressure, through a number of axis. The three tunnels are:
- The New York City Water Tunnel No.1, completed in 1917. It runs from Hillview Reservoir under the Bronx Center, Harlem River, West Side, Midtown, and Lower East Side of Manhattan, and under the East River to Brooklyn where it is connected to Tunnel 2. It is expected to undergo extensive repair after the completion of Tunnel no. 3, by 2020.
- New York City Water Tunnel No. 2, completed in 1935. It runs from Hillview Reservoir under the Bronx Center, the East River, and western Queens to Brooklyn, where it connects to Tunnel 1 and Richmond Tunnel to Staten Island. When completed, it is the longest large diameter water tunnel in the world.
- The Unfinished New York City Water Tunnel No. 3, the largest capital building project in New York City history (see below).
The distribution system consists of a wide network of waterways that spans about 6,500 miles (10,500 km).
Ongoing improvements and improvements
To comply with federal and state laws concerning filtering and disinfection of drinking water, the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the New York State Department of Health asked the city to make a maintenance plan to serve the Croton System. The underground filtration plant is under construction at Van Cortlandt Park. While the Bloomberg government initially budgeted the project at $ 992 million in 2003, an audit by city's financial controller put the actual cost at $ 2.1 billion in August 2009.
The New York City water supply system is leaking at a rate of up to 36 million gallons (140,000 m 3 ) per day. A complicated five-year project with a construction cost of approximately $ 240 million starting in November 2008, to fix some of these leaks.
Water tunnel development No. 3 is intended to provide the city with a critical third connection to the Upstate New York water supply system, allowing the city to shut down the No. 1 tunnel. 1 and No. 2 for repairs for the first time in their history.. The tunnel will eventually be over 60 miles (97 km) long. Construction in the tunnel began in 1970, and the first and second phases were completed. The latter opens with a ceremony under Central Park, in 2013. The completion of all phases is not expected until at least 2020.
In 2018, New York City announced an investment of 1 billion US dollars to protect the integrity of its municipal water system and to maintain the purity of unfiltered water supplies.
See also
- Environmental issues in New York City
- High Bridge, New York City - part of the old Croton Aqueduct system
- Integrated urban water management
- Water supply and sanitation in the United States
References
Further reading
External links
- New York City Municipal Water Financial Authority in New York City Code, Rules and Regulations
Source of the article : Wikipedia