New York City has, we were raised to believe, the champagne of municipal tap waters. Seriously, compare our water to anyone else's and try and say they've got better (go ahead, Stevens Point, Wisconsin, try). But just because our water is delicious doesn't mean it is pure H2O. Nope, there are lots of other things hidden in your agua as well. more ›

An upstate county executive fired off an "open letter" to Mayor Bloomberg, complaining about the NYC Department of Environmental Protection and its role as caretaker of a nearby watershed, which the city uses for drinking water. Ulster County executive Michael Hein writes, "The NYC DEP is presently operating much like an occupying nation within our county, extracting the natural resource of clean water while simultaneously polluting our waterways and causing massive regional economic hardships." more ›

Every time there is heavy rainfall here in the city it comes rushing into our sewers in such volumes that our wastewater treatment plants just can't take it, so they let a whole lotta sewage into our waterways—something we were all reminded of when the North River Wastewater Treatment Plant in Harlem caught on fire this summer. But it doesn't have to be that way, and the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation and the New York City Department of Environmental Protection have come to an interesting agreement to try and slow the brown tide. more ›

The AP reports, "New York City officials have detected elevated lead levels in the water. They are telling New Yorkers to run their taps for 30 seconds before drinking water, cooking with it or using it to make baby formula. The Department of Environmental Protection monitors water inside homes that have lead plumbing and fixtures, typically found in buildings more than 40 years old." The EPA requires local utilities to take action if 10% or more tested building have lead levels greater than 15 parts per billion, and in NYC, 30 of 222 tested buildings (14%) had higher levels. What does this mean for bagels? more ›

Yesterday, the Knicks canceled their home game against the Orlando Magic and Madison Square Garden was closed due to an asbestos scare—while cleaning "asbestos-related materials" in the attic, some debris fell into the arena. Well, the NYC's Department of Environmental Protection declared it safe, with a DEP spokesman saying, "It doesn’t appear that any asbestos was disturbed." That must make the tourists who wanted to see Amare Stoudemire Dwight Howard so MAD!! more ›

Apparently New Yorkers make so much waste that the city's Department of Environmental Protection has to ship NYC sludge to the Garden State. According to the Daily News, "Sludge production at the Newtown Creek sewage treatment plant - the last of the city's 14 plants to upgrade its systems - has shot up 28% in five years." City Councilman David Yassky is concerned that the Newtown Creek upgrade will end up costing $5 billion, over twice its initial estimate, and said, "There is just something very wrong with DEP's management of its construction projects." At any rate, the DEP thinks the deal with NJ was necessary (and it also means that less waste will go into the East River); deputy commissioner of wastewater treatment Doug Greeley joked, "[Otherwise] It would be constipating New York City." more ›

After a recent study detected minute quantities of pharmaceuticals in the city’s upstate water supply, the City Council has announced an emergency hearing to investigate the reports. more ›

New Yorkers have been proud of its drinking water (heck, the city even started advertising its benefits last year), but will the discovery of "barely measurable pharmaceuticals" in tap water change all that? more ›

On the front page of the NY Times section A, there was a photograph of some workers in Haoro, India and an article titled "New York Manhole Covers, Forged Barefoot in India." And in fact, the workers are barefoot, bare-chested, bare-handed, and bare-headed as they work in an iron foundry, making manhole covers for Con Ed and other cities. The Times explains that a photographer, J. Adam Huggins, who works with the newspaper brought... more ›

Last month, the city embarked on an advertising campaign to tout the benefits of NYC tap water, to encourage people to save money and reduce waste. In fact, a 2005 20/20 segment found that there's really no difference between bottled water and NYC tap water, and the city's tap water has long been heralded as one of the nation's best. However, in 2004, there were concerns that some water quality results were manipulated and in May, some trace amounts of a chemical known as perc (used in auto body shops and dry cleaners) were found in a Queens drinking water supply. more ›