Most New Yorkers know that New York tap water tastes great and is some of the best quality municipal water in the country. What many New Yorkers may not know, is that the New York Water Supply system, run by the New York City Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) is one the most sustainably run water systems in the country.
New York City's population has been growing consistently for many, many years. As a consequence, the DEP has had to deal with a continual expansion of the water system, year after year to deal with growing demand.
In the mid nineteen-nineties, the DEP was faced with a tough decision. They needed to expand the water supply but had run out of watershed land. The EPA was requiring them to build a new filtration plant to meet this demand. This would have cost $3-8 billion to build and $2-3 million a year to maintain.
The City realized that if they focused on expanding the Catskill/Delaware and Croton watershed areas, they could avoid the cost of building a new filtration plant and maintain the quality of New York's famous tap water while meeting EPA standards. They reserved $230 million for buying land in the watersheds and $400 million for economic development and pollution prevention in the watershed communities. This allowed the city to avoid the hefty price tag on the water processing plant, using instead, the watershed as a natural filtration system.
In 2007 the EPA maintained that watershed system was working and that no new filtration system is required. This conservation strategy has ultimately provided higher quality water, saved hundreds of millions of dollars for the city and put more resources into forest conservation.
In the mid nineteen-nineties, the DEP was faced with a tough decision. They needed to expand the water supply but had run out of watershed land. The EPA was requiring them to build a new filtration plant to meet this demand. This would have cost $3-8 billion to build and $2-3 million a year to maintain.
The City realized that if they focused on expanding the Catskill/Delaware and Croton watershed areas, they could avoid the cost of building a new filtration plant and maintain the quality of New York's famous tap water while meeting EPA standards. They reserved $230 million for buying land in the watersheds and $400 million for economic development and pollution prevention in the watershed communities. This allowed the city to avoid the hefty price tag on the water processing plant, using instead, the watershed as a natural filtration system.
In 2007 the EPA maintained that watershed system was working and that no new filtration system is required. This conservation strategy has ultimately provided higher quality water, saved hundreds of millions of dollars for the city and put more resources into forest conservation.
The New York water supply system also requires very little energy to transport water to the city. There are 19 reservoirs and 3 controlled lakes that have a combined capacity of 580 billion gallons. 95% of this water is delivered to consumers by gravity. Extra energy for pumping beyond 5% of the water is only needed during periods of drought.
Each time you choose New York tap water over bottled water, not only are you avoiding the use of plastic, but you are supporting energy efficiency, forest conservation and possibly the best bagels and pizza in the world.
Map courtesy of the DEP
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