2 million cubic meters or 10% of New york city's supply of water each day. Image credit: NEW YORK CITY DEP Operated and preserved by the New York City Department of Environmental Management (DEP), the NYC watershed consists of 19 tanks and 3 controlled lakes in a 2,000-square-mile area in the Catskill Mountains and Hudson River Valley, north and northwest of NYC.
The Catskill and Delaware watersheds, west of the Hudson River, supply 90% of NYC's water. The Croton water system, which started operation in 1842, is situated east of the Hudson. It supplies 10% of New York City's drinking water generally to the Bronx and parts of Manhattan, however can providing as much as 30% in times of drought.
While New York City's water is unfiltered, it does get treated with chlorine to kill bacteria, fluoride to prevent cavities, orthophosphate to inhibit lead contamination from pipes, and salt hydroxide to reduce acidity. In order for drinking water to stay unfiltered and earn a Purification Avoidance Decision (FAD), the U.S. https://olympiancares.com/water-quality-in-urban-homes/ (EPA) requires that a water system not be the source of a waterborne illness, not surpass set limitations for coliform germs (indicators of fecal contamination and sewage) and turbidity (murkiness brought on by suspended solids), and curb levels for trihalomethane (a chemical utilized in solvents and refrigerants) and disinfectant residues.
To ensure that New York City water fulfills these standards, the DEP conducts over 900 everyday and 330,000 yearly tests on drinking water throughout the city, in addition to 230,000 tests in the watershed. Considering that the early 1990s, NYC has been granted Trends, permitting water from the Catskill/Delaware system to remain unfiltered.
5 billion UV disinfection center, which will be the world's largest when it opens in 2012, is presently under building in Mt. Pleasant, NY. NYC has actually succeeded in obtaining Trends mainly due to the landmark 1997 Watershed Memorandum of Contract (MOA) negotiated by New York City and New york city State companies, the EPA, upstate neighborhoods and ecological groups.