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The City's Water Tanks Are Full Of E.Coli, Pigeon Bones
By
Lauren Evans
Published Jan 27, 2014
Modified Jan 27, 2014
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By
Lauren Evans
Published Jan 27, 2014
Modified Jan 27, 2014
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Perhaps the artisans were on to something with their high-priced water cafes after all. The Times revealed today that the city's water tanks—seen dotting the tops of buildings and on Brooklyn Industries tote bags everywhere—are positively filled with filth!
NYC claims to have some of the most exquisite drinking water in all the land, which might be true—until it reaches the city. Then it's stored in tanks that haven't been inspected or cleaned in years. Here are some of the more gruesome bits that appeared in the Times:
- "Thick layers of muddy sediment"
- Even some that are routinely maintained contain E. coli (a microbe carried in the feces of mammals and birds)
- Of 12 tanks sampled by the Times, five have E. coli
- Dr. Stephen C. Edberg, a public-health microbiologist at Yale University who invented the now-standard test for bacterial contamination in drinking water, was so alarmed by the results that he immediately alerted the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene.
- Building owners are not required to submit proof to the city that cleanings and inspections have been conducted, as they do for elevator and boiler inspections. Until recently, they did not have to provide evidence of the inspections to their tenants.
- Another potential concern is the use of an epoxy called Sea Goin’ Poxy Putty, which is not approved for use in drinking water, a violation of the city’s health code.
- One day he found a pigeon bone in the strainer of a resident’s kitchen faucet.
- Tank cleaning companies have an inventory of stories about finding dead birds, mice and animal droppings. One cleaner discovered a homeless person living in the attic space between a tank cover and the roof.
- “They told me stories about workers swimming in them in the summer, and about pigeon excrement,” Mr. Sanders recalled.
- The results were not encouraging. No more than 42 percent of the buildings surveyed each year could provide proof of a bacteriological test.
What can we do? Boiling water kills E. Coli, but ain't no one got time for that. Now that Bloomberg is safely out of office, the thing to do is to switch to the cheaper, apparently healthier beverage option—soda. Then we can use the water tanks as God intended: For underground parties.
Tagged
department of health
water
water tanks
Lauren Evans
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