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After Wednesday's drenching that caused the subways to melt down, terrible flooding, and sewage to back up into streets and into homes, officials are creating task forces for review what the hell is going on. But the sad truth is that NYC's drainage systems are complicated. The NY Times has a fascinating and frightening (if the ideas of lots of sewage frightens you) article that looks at the dirty secret of NYC's storm water drainage system.
See, the storm water drainage system and the sewer system were linked many years ago, so when there are heavy rains and the pipes are backed up, "millions of gallons of rainwater mixed with raw sewage are routed away from the city’s 14 sewage plants and toward a web of underground pipes that empty directly into the East River, the Hudson River and New York Harbor." Blech!
Some interesting facts from the article: Many American cities have combined storm water and sewage systems, but NYC's is the biggest. Also, on a normal, dry day, the Department of Environmental Protection treats 1.4 billion gallons of sewage over its 14 plants, and it can handle double its usual load in case of rain. "But as little as a tenth of an inch of rain coming very quickly can overload that system," which then can trigger "nearly 460 registered sewage outflows that empty directly into the city’s rivers and waterways." With the sewer system aging, one of the city's ideas is to create huge holding tanks for sewer outflow. But there's a lot of concern, from city and state officials as well as environmental groups like the Riverkeeper Group.
For the "history repeats itself" file, the Post reports that subway flooding is nothing new, as subway was shut down four times in three months back in 1913. A vintage 1913 Post article asked, "Is New York's subway to be flooded and traffic stopped every time an unusually heavy rain visits New York?"
Here's website about sewage history, and did you know that during the 2003 blackout, back-up generators at sewage plants failed so 30 million gallons of sewage were dumped into the East River?
Photograph of Broadway sludge by street stars on Flickr
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Can we get some Singapore style justice where we cane people that throw trash in the sewers or gum on the sidewalks? Seriously, how is it that a sidewalk can be replaced and it is covered with black spots of gum within in weeks? Who the hell raised these people?
So in other words, if a hurricane is a comin' - stock up on drinking water. Even if your place is spared by the storm, you may not be able to have safe tap water for days.
... that and the MTA employees will probably abandon the subway system a la the New Orleans P.D., creating a situation where an eye patch-wearing Kurt Russell will have to come in to save us while dropping witty one-liners like he's George Bush at an LL Cool J concert.
David, is that really true? I thought NYC gets its tap water from reservoirs upstate. Can you explain how storms would effect tap water? I'm not trying to be snarky, I really want to know.
I'm not an EPA expert, but I remember Katrina messed up the New Orleans Lake Pontchartrain water supply pretty badly and any massive disruption due to a hurricane on our rivers can't be good for our supply. I do remember reading this: http://gothamist.com/2006/02/08/east_river_got.php
Anyone have any further knowledge on this?
NYC does get its water from Upstate. It's the Croton Water system. So, with regards to what's being reported in this item, no, this doesn't affect our drinking water. Even if it did, that's what urban filtration systems are meant to take care of.
Nevertheless, what recently happened with the subways is a bad sign. There are currently over 700 pumps being employed throughout this city to keep it from being flooded. Before the 1811 grid, Manhattan was wooded land, criss-crossed by streams, rivulets, and underground springs (hence, "Spring" Street). The 4, 5, 6 line? Right on top of one of those underground water systems. So, once those pumps stop working, that'll be among the first things to go. It's (currently) no one's fault-- just poor foresight on the part of NY's 19th-century planners-- this is what we reap when when we sow a man-made empire over the landscape. I'll stay right here in my home city for as long as I can, but I'm well aware that incidents like this one are only going to get more common.
Apropos, I highly recommend the chapter on NY in Alan Weisman's "The World Without Us."
Where's Ed Norton [friend of Ralph Kramden] when you need him?
Now there was an underground specialist!
I don't know if you can count "not planning for a city of 12 million people" poor planning.
This is especially a major concern for surfers and ocean goers of all types in nyc. The untreated sewage that flows into the Jamaica Bay is changing with the tide and flowing right out into the Atlantic. In an effort to keep the public up to date on the quality of the ocean, the Surfrider Foundation is currently stepping up its efforts to test water quality at Beach 90th Street in Rockaway. Please visit surfrider.org/nyc to view results.
Actually, the Croton reservoirs are the smallest part of the NYC water supply. The main reservoirs are in the Catskills now. But yes, sewage in either the East or Hudson rivers wouldn't affect the city's water supply in the least. However, NYC does not have an "urban filtration system." The upstate reservoirs act as filters where everything settles out. Tap water only gets chlorination. The EPA said only days ago that the Catskills water is clean enough that NYC won't have to build an $8 billion filtration plant for it for at least another ten years, although the Croton water will get a filtration plant by 2012.
I didn't know it's just chlorine to purify the water, I was hoping they'd use some UV system.
I'd like to think when I'm swimming in the creeks and streams of the catskills I'm adding to the great taste of NYC water.
Poster #[5] is correct ! Although you didn't go far enough . Manhattan is full of Streams, Rivers, Springs, & Brooks that enter-connect all be it underground now . Just because the City planners paved over them doesn't mean they stop flowing as usual ! The same thing happened a few years ago @ [116]St. Station on the [2], &[3] lines . The MTA had to shutdown the station and rebuild the walling that was protecting the station . That right there is in essence a "Band-aid" because eventually that underground river will seep back into it's customary banks and compromise the station yet again ! The problem with the sewers in the subway system has gone beyond the point of return here ! Those drains have been cluttered for many years and the only way the MTA can reopen those pipes would be to dredge them out ! That's not going to happen so the only other alternative would be to rip them up and lay down a new system which the MTA doesn't have the money to do ! It's like puring Hot grease down a drain for a year until the drain becomes full throuly saturated with that grease and hardens . The only way ur getting that out would be either drill through it, OR replace the section of pipping ! Posted by; "Still Not Amused"