Queens Survival Guide

Water Woes
Contamination | Make Clean Water | Severe Drought | Sewer Backflow

Contamination

When Water, Water Everywhere Is Not A Good Thing

Sometimes water from the faucet may not be safe to drink.

By Liz Goff

The complicated system of aquifers and aqueducts that link upstate New York’s water with Queens taps is well-filtered, with plants along the way that clean and re-clean every drop that comes our way.

That doesn’t mean, however, that contamination is impossible. As a matter of fact, most of the reservoirs upstate are completely open and can be accessed. Also, many of the pipes under city streets that carry water can be 100 years old. When they break, contaminants are able to enter the system. Boil water notices are issued to ensure against such contaminants as fecal coliform bacteria, or e coli.

What Can I Expect?

Water can become contaminated from flooding, sewer problems, gas or oil spills, biological contamination, earthquake or even a building collapse

Officials at the City Department of Environmental Protection advise you to call 311 if you suspect a problem with your water, if you have low water pressure, or if you spot water rising from the ground or roadway.

Be prepared to provide a description of the condition, what is being affected (street, cellar, basement, subways, etc.), the exact location of the problem, your name, address and telephone number.

The Official Response

If authorities determine that there is a concern about drinking water quality, you will be advised of what actions to take. In some cases, you may be told not to use the water for cooking or drinking purposes, unless it is boiled, treated with bleach or iodine, or disinfected by other means.

In extreme cases, you may be told not to use the water – at all – for cooking, drinking, hand washing, or bathing.

Officials said you would be advised in the event of a biological attack or other incident that causes water to become contaminated, and you would be advised if you can decontaminate the water, or if measures would be taken by the agency to decontaminate the water.

Authorities advise you to tune in to the media for information on possible water contamination, for updates on the condition and on steps taken to ensure your safety.

What Can I Do?

It is always a good idea to have a supply of bottled water in your home or office, for use in an emergency. Remember, never use ice or ice cubes made from tap water before contamination was discovered, discard all refrigerated water that may be contaminated and follow step-by-step directions before using water that has been treated by DEP technicians.

Contamination | Make Clean Water | Severe Drought | Sewer Backflow

Pure H20

Handy Tips For Creating You Own Clean Water

By Michael Rehak

The water might not have run out, but whatever is flowing through your pipes could already be contaminated.

Knowing that a disaster has occurred and your water supply has been affected, the smartest thing to do is check the water for foul odor, but don’t try a taste test. Your water might already be too toxic to drink and it is advised by the American Red Cross that you close your valves.

What you should already have stored, is plenty of bottled water: a three day supply of one gallon per each person in your family.

If you don’t have enough bottled water and you don’t trust the water supply, what you might need to do is make your own distiller. The system of doing so is quite simple and similar methods are used for making alcohol.

First, you will need to boil water. Some type of open flame will be required and whether it is from a lit sterno or from burning wood, boiling water is the first step.

Cooled off boiled water will taste better if oxygen is put back by way of pouring water back and forth between two clean containers.

But if you want to make the best out of your resources, the evaporation that rises above the water can also be stored.

Known as distilled water, it is one of the best ways of keeping every drop of your supply.

Collecting the vapor can be as easy as filling you pot half way before setting it on the flame. Make sure the pot has a lid and tie a cup to the lid’s handle, so that the cup hangs right side up when the lid is upside down. After boiling the water for 20 minutes, let the water from the pot’s lid drip into the cup. This will take out salt and other impurities.

Another method of cleaning water is by adding precisely 16 drops of unscented household liquid bleach (make sure 5.25 percent sodium hypochlorite is labeled on the active ingredients list) to a gallon of water. After being stirred and letting it settle for 30 minutes, if the water does not have a slight bleach odor, repeat the dosage and let it stand for another 15 minutes, according to the Red Cross.

Now you have it – clean water and a few ways to stay alive.

Build Your Own Still

Tools
An egg
Two 2-liter plastic soda bottles
Black paint
One foot of clear plastic tubing, 1/2” or 1 cm diameter or larger (as for an aquarium)
Duct tape
Salt
Water
Bowl
Actions

1. Spray one of the 2-liter bottles black.

2. In a clear pitcher, mix 1/2 cup of salt in a quart of water.

3. Pour the salt water into the black 2-liter bottle.

4. Attach the clear tubing to both 2-liter bottles and secure with duct tape. See diagram.

5. Set both bottles in a sunny window. Place the black bottle higher than the clear bottle.

6. After several days, water will have moved from the black bottle to the clear bottle.

7. In order to show the change in the saltiness of the water without tasting it, try the low-tech egg test. In a bowl of salt water, a raw egg will float; in fresh water, it will sink. Use the egg test before and after the activity to note the change in the water’s salinity.

Contamination | Make Clean Water | Severe Drought | Sewer Backflow

Drought
The best prevention is often water conservation

The Ashokan Reservoir in Ulster County is part of a network that provides water for New York City.

By Michael Rehak

It’s as easy as turning on the faucet, but there’s no guarantee that that the complex system that gets water into your drinking glass will always be there for the taking.

How and where our water gets into our homes begins in upstate mountains and ends at the tap. In between it is held in aquifers, run through a series of filtering stations, miles of pipes and eventually to our houses. At any point along the way a problem could pop up, affecting the supply of water to the millions in the city who rely on what seems to be an unending supply.

But what happens if the supply stops coming in? What would we do if we could no longer rely on our current source?

Rainwater and snowfall that accumulates in mountain valleys flow into reservoirs that travel into the 92-mile long Catskill Aqueduct, where water is transported through smaller pipelines into Queens and all other parts of the city.

What Can I Expect?

Since water supply contamination has not been a significant hazard in New York City in the past century, a more likely scenario would be a drought, which would place restrictions on people’s usage – but when there is no water flowing from the faucet, people will have to use their best resources.

When it comes to a severe water shortage, an emergency gets declared “when there is a reasonable probability that, without the implementation of stringent measures to reduce consumption, a protracted dry period would cause the City’s reservoirs to be drained,” according to the New York City Office of Emergency Management.

The Official Response

If there is a drought, authorities will advise you to conserve water. Restrict your water use as much as possible. If the drought worsens, mandatory drought restrictions can be imposed. Conservation measures can slow the depletion rate of the stored waters and potentially postpone or eliminate the threat of serious water shortages.

Report open fire hydrants and street leaks to DEP via 311; take shorter showers or fill the tub only halfway; don’t run the tap while shaving or brushing your teeth; fix leaky faucets, which can waste up to 1,000 gallons each week; run the dishwasher and washing machine only when full; don’t use the toilet as a wastebasket; install water-saving fixtures, including showerheads and faucet aerators; and sweep driveways and sidewalks clean rather than washing them down with a hose.

What Can I Do?

The Federal Emergency Management Agency has compiled a list for homeowners in case an actual water emergency comes about.

Hot water and toilet tanks, along with water pipes, can play a significant role in maintaining clean water for an extended period of time. According to FEMA, turning off the power that heats your hot water tank and waiting for it to cool off can supply a decent amount of storage. After allowing the water to cool down, place a container underneath the tank and open the drain valve at the bottom. Now you’ve got clean water. FEMA advises that the tank is not turned back on until the problem is resolved, however.

Also, drinkable water can be found in a home’s most dirty of places – the toilet. The upper portion of a toilet (where your back would rest when seated) is safe to drink, according to FEMA, unless chemical treatments have been added. (Hint – don’t drink blue, green or yellow water.)

Releasing air pressure into the plumbing system by turning on the highest faucet in the house can also drain water via the lowest faucet, according to FEMA.

In addition, melting ice cubes can also provide a supply, obviously more for those with refrigerators that have ice-making attachments.

Water that is not safe to drink, however, is the kind that is used for sleeping.

Water from inside a waterbed should not be used for drinking. It contains pesticides and chemicals that prevent the growth of algae, fungi and bacteria. This water is only suited for laundering and hand washing. You’d probably be better served keeping your bed as a comfortable place to sleep.

Outside the home, rain water, spring water and water from streams, river, lakes, and coiled garden hoses can also be used after it is purified.

Storing whatever clean water salvaged is also an important factor, according to FEMA. Metal containers should be considered a last resort because of corrosion and bad taste. Plastic storage is recommended because it is lightweight and often unbreakable.

Even in emergencies, FEMA advises that people drink at least two quarts of water each day. In case you were thinking of going without, just remember that, in terms of importance, water comes only second to air as far as necessities for living. According to FEMA, a person can live several days without food, but only a few without water.

Contamination | Make Clean Water | Severe Drought | Sewer Backflow

Sewer Backflow
When Unwanted Waste Returns Home

Hurricane Wilma brought torrential downpours to Queens this week.

By Ellen Thompson

While it’s almost impossible for New York City’s 6,600 miles of mains and pipes to breakdown at once, leaving the five boroughs without an operating sewer system, there is a possibility that backups and overflows can ruin your day.

What Can I Expect?

Most of the homes in Queens are attached to a citywide sewage system that uses terms such as biosolids and wastewater to discuss what comes out of our homes and into the sewers, but we all know what they’re talking about.

Well, the sewage that comes out of your toilet is in the same system as the stormwater that is collected when it rains. It all gets treated at the same facilities, and much of it travels through the same pipes.

“The sewers back up and overflow all the time, that’s no secret,” Department of Environmental Protection spokeswoman Natalie Milner said, “just last week with all the rain we got there were dozens of calls to us.”

Even though overflows can strike at anytime throughout the year, Milner said they are more common after heavy rains, because 70 percent of the sewer system is combined storm and waste sewers.

The Official Response

“It is almost impossible for the streets to become flooded, though” she said, “Sure, the backups can affect homes and basements and even backup into toilets, that’s because homes are connected to service lines.”

When those service lines become clogged, the problem is out of the DEP’s hands and goes into the homeowners’. Yes your toilet may be regurgitating feces, but there are private plumbers to get any Queens resident through the ordeal.

What Can I Do?

After storms, Dan Liszt from New York Plumbing has trucks circulating around Queens taking care of the backups. The first thing he recommends to do is: stop using water.

“It will only complicate the backup and cause more of a mess,” he said. Then everything should be cleaned up to prevent contamination, and make sure to throw away any objects that have been tainted.