Monday, March 26, 2012

A Greener Strategy for New York’s Runaway Sewage

By: Mireya Navarro
March 13, 2012

http://green.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/03/13/a-greener-strategy-on-new-yorks-runaway-sewage/?ref=opinion


New York has agreed on an environmental safe idea to decrease the current rush of untreated sewage.


Summary
        New York State and city officials have found a way to reduce the flow of untreated sewage into the city’s surrounding waterways whenever there is heavy rainfall. Under an agreement, the city plans to spend about $2.4 billion in public and private money over the next eighteen years in new techniques. They will approximately invest $187 million over the next three years.
        New York is an old city so it still has a combined sewer system where storm water and sewage are carried through the same pipes. The system often goes beyond capacity during heavy storms and discharges the overflow into local waterways. Such overflows are a major pollution problem preventing many waterways from meeting standards for fishing, swimming and healthy habitats for outside. As a result, traditional sewage control methods like underground storage tanks are thinking about not being used.
        The Clean Water Act (CWA) establishes the basic structure for regulating discharges of pollutants into the waters of the United States and regulating quality standards for surface waters. The state, which is responsible for enforcing the federal law, has been pushing the city to find an answer because building two separate systems would be expensive.
       The Bloomberg administration has devised a plan for new “green infrastructure” projects to capture rainwater before it reaches the sewers. These include rooftop gardens, which can retain rainwater, porous surfaces for parking lots that allow water to seep into the soil and more street-side vegetation. Developers of new buildings must meet rigorous environmental standards.
       City officials believe the 1.5 billion gallons of sewer overflows will be removed gradually by 2030. About twelve billion gallons will be kept out through traditional and green methods combined. City officials agreed to allow ‘say’ in the city’s federal Clean Water Act permits so residents can go to court and enforce the plan if present or future government administrations violate its terms.


Opinion/ Reflection        
        Green roofs are a great example of a way to slow and even stop storm water runoff from buildings all over the city. Not only do they absorb a good portion of water, but they slow down the initial surge that happens after a major storm, reducing the load on the sewer system. The untreated sewage is definitely affecting the residents living there. However, I am glad the city is making great strides funding the green infrastructure and storm water programs. There all positive and good solutions for the future of New York, but how about a simple, low cost way to right now keep some of the sewage water out of rivers and lakes. I have been to New York many times and probably could have guessed they were going through this problem. This reminds me of the time we talked about dirty water and other harmful chemicals in water during environmental science class. Overall, I think this article was very interesting. It describes a current issue that needs to be solved in a city so close to Hatboro-Horsham.

Questions
Do you agree with the city's plan? Why or why not?
How can the residents of New York City help reduce the flow of untreated sewage into waterways?
What other places are going through a similar problem? Explain.


3 comments:

  1. This comment has been removed by the author.

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  2. Opinion/Reflection
    I like the picture you have- it really represents how big New York is and how busy we know it can get! As I was reading your summary, I thought about the amount of money being spent; at first I was thinking how $2.4 billion is a lot of money. However, if there was not a system like this, the overflow of the sewage could damage a lot and it would take money but a lot more time to repair. It is good that this money is being used for this reason. I think that the roofs retaining water is a good idea. It is clever because the rain hits a roof before the ground, so why can’t the roofs play a role? They should be able to absorb the water and go through a tube to water plants or even use that running water as hydroelectric energy. These green roofs can play an important role especially keeping the sewage systems under control. I think that if New York’s sewage system continues to overflow and damage the city, they could reconsider fixing the underground piping…maybe they could spread that out more because New York City is very big so there is plenty of room. This is also a very green idea, so it is good for the environment too which is always a plus!

    Questions
    (None to answer)

    Expansion
    I found this article that talks about how when rain hits New York City, sewage reached rivers and lakes, polluting the water. The city’s Department of Environmental Protection plans to install sensors that will monitor the amount of sewage overflows and the water’s cleanliness quality. The sensors will not prevent the rain from overflowing the sewage, but it will give information so they are able to better the environment once they happen. These sensors will be expected to be installed by the end of 2012.
    (Author: Mireya Navarro)
    http://green.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/02/16/new-york-plans-faster-sewage-alerts/

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  3. This should be interesting! Well, back in fifth grade I remember reading an article or two about how some cities were beginning to implement "green roofs" into their private buildings and corporate offices. This article was created in just a couple weeks ago, so It seems like they've been slow to getting the project started. However, this is a good thing. I would love to see every apartment, commercial building, and even skyscraper hold a "green roof" on top of it. Porous pavement is brilliant-why haven't they thought of it before? In class, we talk about how we need to be careful about how much pavement we lay down because water needs to percolate Earth's surface as part of the water cycle. Well here, if water is allowed to permeate the pavement, that whole problem is solved!
    I can relate to this because I often visit the reservoir out in Kingston where my grandparents live. That reservoir makes up the most of New York City's water supply. The most recent time I went, the water looked dark and murky. It is evident that this water is cleaned up a lot before the citizens of NYC will drink it, but something does need to be done to stop pollution in that reservoir anyway.

    To answer your first question:
    Yes, Absolutely! It seems like they have discovered a good plan, and I hope they will execute it promptly and in a good-natured fashion. It should have been finished a long time ago, but late is better than never. I look forward to learning more about this plan in the future, and I look forward to seeing its completion-not only in New York City, but all over the world.

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