NYC tap water may taste different starting today. Here's why.
NEW YORK - New York City residents may notice their drinking water tastes different starting Monday.
The Delaware Aqueduct, which supplies half of the city's tap water, is being temporarily shut down as part of a $2 billion project to fix massive leaks beneath the Hudson River.
To make up for it, officials have boosted capacity from other parts of the city's 19-reservoir system. So while the water supply will not be disrupted, the famously crisp taste may change.
"The water will always be there," said Department of Environmental Protection Deputy Commissioner Paul Rush. "We're going to be changing the mix of water that consumers get."
"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 statement. "Just like different brands of bottled water taste a bit different, so do our different reservoirs."
What's wrong with the Delaware Aqueduct?
The Delaware Aqueduct is the longest tunnel in the world and carries water for 85 miles 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 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 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 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 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.
NYC relying on northern reservoirs
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.
