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The temporary shutdown of the Delaware Aqueduct in upstate New
York has been in the works for years, with officials steadily
boosting capacity from other parts of the city's sprawling
19-reservoir system. Water will flow uninterrupted from city
faucets after the shutdown begins this week, officials said,
though its famously crisp taste might be affected as other
sources are tapped into more heavily.
“The water will alway be there,” Paul Rush, deputy commissioner
for the city’s Department of Environmental Protection. “We’re
going to be changing the mix of water that consumers get.”
The Delaware Aqueduct is the longest tunnel in the world and
carries water for 85 miles (137 kilometers) from four reservoirs
in the Catskill region to other reservoirs in the city's
northern suburbs. Operating since 1944, it provides roughly half
of the 1.1 billion gallons (4.2 billion liters) a day used by
more than 8 million New York City residents. The system also
serves some upstate municipalities.
But the aqueduct leaks up to 35 million gallons (132 million
liters) of water a day, nearly all of it from a section far
below the Hudson River.
The profuse leakage has been known about for decades, but city
officials faced a quandary: they could not take the critical
aqueduct offline for years to repair the tunnel. So instead,
they began constructing a parallel 2.5-mile (4-kilometer) bypass
tunnel under the river about a decade ago.
The new tunnel will be connected during the shut down, which is
expected to last up to eight months. More than 40 miles (64
kilometers) of the aqueduct running down from the four upstate
reservoirs will be out of service during that time, though a
section closer to the city will remain in use.
Other leaks farther north in the aqueduct also will be repaired
in the coming months.
Rush said the work was timed to avoid summer months, when demand
is higher. The city also has spent years making improvements to
other parts of the system, some of which are more than 100 years
old.
“There’s a lot of work done thinking about where the alternate
supply would come from,” Rush said.
Capacity has been increased for the complementary Catskill
Aqueduct and more drinking water will come from the dozen
reservoirs and three lakes of the Croton Watershed in the city's
northern suburbs.
The heavier reliance on those suburban reservoirs could affect
the taste of water due to a higher presence of minerals and
algae in the Croton system, according to city officials.
“While some residents may notice a temporary, subtle difference
in taste or aroma during the repairs, changes in taste don’t
mean something is wrong with the water," DEP Commissioner Rohit
Aggarwala said in a prepared statement. "Just like different
brands of bottled water taste a bit different, so do our
different reservoirs.”
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