Published in Town & Village, November 27th, 2008
By Sabina Mollot
"It may look unappealing," said DEP Deputy Commissioner Anne Canty, "but there is nothing in that water that is harmful to your health."
Representatives of the City Department of Environmental Protection met with Council Member Dan Garodnick and George Hatzmann, managing director for Tishman Speyer on Friday in the hopes of doing something about the brown water that has been coming out of the sinks, showers and even showing up in the toilets in the apartments of Stuyvesant Town/Peter Cooper Village residents.
The problem has persisted for weeks in certain areas of Manhattan as well as the Bronx, but has been especially persistent in the Community Board 6 area, which runs from 14th Street to 59th Street on the East Side.
The meeting was held at the request of Garodnick, whose office has steadily received complaints from affected residents, mostly in ST/PCV. The problem has been blamed on the reactivation of the Croton water source, which recently replaced the Catskills/Delaware reservoir as a temporary water source for many city residents. NYC has three water sources, which get rotated as ongoing maintenance work demands and currently, the DEP is doing work to prepare for repairs on the Delaware Aqueduct.
Although the DEP was unable to provide a timetable for how much longer residents would have to live with brown water, DEP Deputy Commissioner Anne Canty, who, along with several department engineers, attended the meeting, said that residents in the CB6 area will once again be getting their water from the Catskills/Delaware system in about two weeks time.
When that happens, residents will likely see brown water coming out of their faucets again, but this time, it isn't expected to last more than a day. To pinpoint the source of the current problem in the CB6 area, the DEP has been investigating local water pipes. "We've been opening manholes and checking to make sure regulators and vales are in the correct position," said Canty.
So far, some valves that should have been in an open position were found to be closed.
According to the DEP, residents should expect to see brown water when construction projects are going on near their buildings. When told about ongoing Con Ed work on the 14th Street Loop at Avenue A, Canty said, "we're looking at everything, but that hasn't been identified to us."
One of the purposes of the Friday meeting was to see if there was anything Tishman Speyer should have been doing to alleviate the brown water in ST/PCV, but according to Canty, the owner has in fact been doing everything possible. "They are very rigorous in maintaining the system," she said.
Yesterday, a spokesperson for Tishman Speyer described the meeting as "very productive." "While the water condition is directly related to the city's water supply system and has affected many communities in Manhattan, we are doing everything we can to ensure that all systems within the property are functioning properly, including blowing down risers within buildings and cleaning water tanks," said the rep.
In the whole CB6 area, complains decreased significantly this week according to Garodnick as well as the DEP. Residents who are still seeing brown water are asked by the DEP to report the problem by calling 311. Complaints are forwarded to the department and those received so far have been crucial to the investigation, according to DEP spokesperson Mike Sacier.
"Absolutely they should report it. That's what helped inform us," said Saucier on Tuesday.
According to Canty, the brown water residents have been seeing is safe to drink, although the DEP recommends that anyone who sees brown water wait until the tap runs clear before drinking the water.
"It may look unappealing," said Canty, "but there is nothing in that water that is harmful to your health."
By Sabina Mollot
"It may look unappealing," said DEP Deputy Commissioner Anne Canty, "but there is nothing in that water that is harmful to your health."
Representatives of the City Department of Environmental Protection met with Council Member Dan Garodnick and George Hatzmann, managing director for Tishman Speyer on Friday in the hopes of doing something about the brown water that has been coming out of the sinks, showers and even showing up in the toilets in the apartments of Stuyvesant Town/Peter Cooper Village residents.
The problem has persisted for weeks in certain areas of Manhattan as well as the Bronx, but has been especially persistent in the Community Board 6 area, which runs from 14th Street to 59th Street on the East Side.
The meeting was held at the request of Garodnick, whose office has steadily received complaints from affected residents, mostly in ST/PCV. The problem has been blamed on the reactivation of the Croton water source, which recently replaced the Catskills/Delaware reservoir as a temporary water source for many city residents. NYC has three water sources, which get rotated as ongoing maintenance work demands and currently, the DEP is doing work to prepare for repairs on the Delaware Aqueduct.
Although the DEP was unable to provide a timetable for how much longer residents would have to live with brown water, DEP Deputy Commissioner Anne Canty, who, along with several department engineers, attended the meeting, said that residents in the CB6 area will once again be getting their water from the Catskills/Delaware system in about two weeks time.
When that happens, residents will likely see brown water coming out of their faucets again, but this time, it isn't expected to last more than a day. To pinpoint the source of the current problem in the CB6 area, the DEP has been investigating local water pipes. "We've been opening manholes and checking to make sure regulators and vales are in the correct position," said Canty.
So far, some valves that should have been in an open position were found to be closed.
According to the DEP, residents should expect to see brown water when construction projects are going on near their buildings. When told about ongoing Con Ed work on the 14th Street Loop at Avenue A, Canty said, "we're looking at everything, but that hasn't been identified to us."
One of the purposes of the Friday meeting was to see if there was anything Tishman Speyer should have been doing to alleviate the brown water in ST/PCV, but according to Canty, the owner has in fact been doing everything possible. "They are very rigorous in maintaining the system," she said.
Yesterday, a spokesperson for Tishman Speyer described the meeting as "very productive." "While the water condition is directly related to the city's water supply system and has affected many communities in Manhattan, we are doing everything we can to ensure that all systems within the property are functioning properly, including blowing down risers within buildings and cleaning water tanks," said the rep.
In the whole CB6 area, complains decreased significantly this week according to Garodnick as well as the DEP. Residents who are still seeing brown water are asked by the DEP to report the problem by calling 311. Complaints are forwarded to the department and those received so far have been crucial to the investigation, according to DEP spokesperson Mike Sacier.
"Absolutely they should report it. That's what helped inform us," said Saucier on Tuesday.
According to Canty, the brown water residents have been seeing is safe to drink, although the DEP recommends that anyone who sees brown water wait until the tap runs clear before drinking the water.
"It may look unappealing," said Canty, "but there is nothing in that water that is harmful to your health."
Did anyone offer Ms. Canty a glass of water at the meeting?
Why wasn't a representative of the Tenants Association at the meeting?
Tishman Speyer did away with the Tenants Association Hoffa-style.
What I don't get about this whole deal is...
Why is the water in my apartment crystal clear ??
I've had absolutely no brown water (I'm in 16 Oval) during this whole period that people have been complaining. If this was caused by a reservoir supply problem, wouldn't ALL the buildings in the area have brown water ??
This doesn't logically add up.
Anyone else remember the scene is "Erin Boronovich" where Julia Roberts offers a glass of water to the lawyers for the polluting company and then tells her its from the town whose water supply has been polluted but,a claim which the lawyers (and their client) are vehemently denying? Not surprisingly, the lawyer declines the water. We should bring TS a glass of the brown sludge and see if they or their lawyers will drink it.
My hot water is brown which means it is a problem within ST not they city. If it was the city I would think the brown water would be more widespread throughout ST instead of pockets of apartments here and there. I just bought water filters about three weeks ago and already they are all blinking at me needing to be changed.
Correction "Brockovich". Too much turkey leads to mental confusion.
That photograph, which I assume is not photoshopped, makes me think that someone had an upset stomach, went to the bathroom, flushed and then the contents of the toilet bowl got redirected and came out through the faucet. That is the grossest photograph I have ever seen! We are strictly a bottled water family from now on because I don't water that came through that system, even if my water does look clear (at the moment). We should get a rent reduction for having non-drinkable water and having to buy bottled water all the time.
Cold and Miserable,
For the sake of our environment, I suggest you at least buy your water in gallon jugs, or better, in 5-gallon jugs (from Poland Springs, etc.), in order to save all of that plastic from our landfills. I'm sure that would be cheaper as well.
Father Earth
I have 10 6 packs of bottled watter delivered every week or ten days. I cannot (at the moment) lift gallon jugs (and definitely not 5 gallon jugs) as I am recovering from major abdominal surgery. The guy from the grocery store (Associated) very kindly puts them on my dining table so I don't have to lift them. I wish I could just turn on the faucet and get clean drinking water, but that is not a reality in Stuyvesant Town. I am assuming that the plastic bottles are recycled as I always put the empty ones in the recycling bin in the roach and rodent infested carriage room. BTW, I always purchase Deer Park water because it tastes better than Poland Spring - not that that has anything to do with what you posted about.;-)