WATER PROBLEMS IN NYC

The Big Apple may be in Big Trouble.

New York City is a densely populated area and where there are people, there should be clean usable water. But its populace still facing water quality problems.

One of the problems households in NYC face is Hard Water. Homeowners most of the time are unable to notice that they are being plagued by Hard Water and the costly effects it has. Unsuspecting homeowners who had encounters with Hard Water usually have dry skin and hair. This problem also causes stains on your bathtubs, discoloration on your silverware, and Hard Water brings down the life expectancy of appliances that use water.

Another problem residents of New York are facing is Pollutants and Toxic Chemicals getting into watersheds. There is a large mineral reserve deposit deep beneath the earth’s surface near the West of Hudson portion of the New York City Watershed where mining companies and industrial gas drillers may use Hydraulic Fracturing. This method involves injecting toxic chemicals, sand, and millions of gallons of water under high pressure directly into the mineral reserves. It is still uncertain if this combination of chemical discharges would flow into New York City’s drinking water supply. Phosphorus in itself in low concentrations isn’t really a danger but When Phosphorus content increases in the water reservoirs of New York City, It may increase vegetations that will lead to organic matter production that can affect and change the condition of the reservoir to produce pristine water.

Hopefully, with the new watershed regulations, we can regulate and limit the activities that could compromise the water quality. Activities affected by the regulations also include septic system installation, wastewater treatment plant operation, and construction activities.

“My water smells like rotten eggs!!!” 

Water in its purest form should always be Tasteless and Odorless. So when your water tastes and smells funny there is something wrong. Cloudy and unclear water is usually caused by dissolved solid particles. These dissolved particles could possibly cause waterborne disease if the Turbidity level of your water isn’t treated.

Have you ever wondered where you got that stain on your clothes? Or get frustrated with that unsightly discoloration on your precious silverware?

Groundwater may contain metals like iron, copper, manganese which will result in a metallic taste of your drinking water. Iron causes reddish-brown stain on fixtures and concrete, laundry, silverware, and porcelain while Manganese causes brownish-black stains on the same materials. Discoloration usually occurs when oxidation happens. Water treatment can address this issue. Taste issues are only noticeable where water is used for drinking, Stinky water can be noticeable anywhere. Hydrogen sulfide may cause stinky water, It’s a corrosive gas that leaves an unpleasant odor that could latch on to your clothes

 

Old and poorly kept infrastructures are another problem New Yorkers may face. The delivery of water to many people in New York depends on a network of pipes, shafts, and subterranean aqueducts that spans 6000 miles. On average about 1.5 billion gallons of clean and usable water runs through it each day. It comes from the 19 up-state reservoirs serving millions of people in NYC. For a very long time, it stood as a great engineering feat and made people proud. But the city’s water infrastructure is now in a state of disrepair that threatens its ability to continue to supply the city with water. The level of federal funding for clean water infrastructure has dramatically decreased since the 1970s. They may be in deep waters if the trend continues and they are unable to maintain the structures where they get 90% of their clean water

Significant concentrations of Disinfection Byproducts (DBP) have been detected in the NYC drinking water but there’s still no study to its effect on someone’s health. DBPs are formed when chlorine-based disinfectants are routinely added to the water supply to kill bacteria. There is still very little knowledge about the adherent effect on someone’s health of DBP and its toxicity. Some DBP has no toxicity but has been linked with Cancer and Reproductive problems. We need to take understanding and do full research on what effect it could have on people.


Many pollutants are found in legal, commonly used house products, home cleaning chemicals, oils, and greases, even the gas we use in our vehicles contains pollutants. The fertilizers and pesticides that we use for our gardens and lawns. Please help protect water supplies by making sure these potentially harmful products are used in limited quantities when necessary, and that they are disposed of properly.

The place where we are staying (Earth) consists of about 70% water, but that doesn’t mean it won’t run out or it will be abundant forever so it’s up to us to not waste and keep the water that we have right now safe and usable for everyone.

Facebook
Twitter
LinkedIn
Pinterest