Deadly Parasites Take $5 Billion Bite Out Of Big Apple
By Sara Jerome,
@sarmje
Two tiny organisms present a big problem for New York City’s water department: cryptosporidium and giardia.
The city has spent $5 billion over the last five years combatting these organisms, which can cause fatal illnesses in the sick and elderly and gastrointestinal problems for those with healthy immune systems.
“In the city's east-of-Hudson Croton watershed, where development has encroached on watershed land, federal regulators forced the city to filter the water; hence the $3 billion Croton filtration plant that recently opened,” City Limits reported.
The plant itself was a giant, politically fraught project.
“The projected seven-year construction started 11 years ago. The estimated price tag — pegged at $800 million in the late 90s and then at $992 million in 2003 — is now well over $3 billion,” City Limits reported when the plant began operation this year.
City Limits documented where and how new technology is fighting parasites:
Specially-made light tubes sterilize Cryptosporidium and Giardia to prevent them from multiplying and making people sick. UV disinfection is a cheaper alternative to filtration, which actually removes Crypto and Giardia from the water. The functioning of the light tubes is constantly monitored to ensure they're providing the level of UV output required. The room hums with the sound of millions of gallons of water rushing through metal pipes. A gauge measuring water exiting the UV plant on its way to the Hillview Reservoir and then then into the water system.
The plant will soon install a massive installation manufactured in France to control the flow of water from the plant.
“It is currently filtering 10 percent of the city's drinking water, though it has capacity to filter more. If you live in certain parts of Manhattan and the Bronx you are already drinking this water, although you probably won't even notice the difference, because it is mixed with water coming from the western watersheds in the Catskills,” City Limits reported.For similar news, visit Water Online’s Drinking Water Contaminant Removal Solutions Center.