To enhance

water quality Water quality refers to the chemical, physical, and biological characteristics of water based on the standards of its usage. It is most frequently used by reference to a set of standards against which compliance, generally achieved through tr ...

monitoring in a

drinking water Drinking water is water that is used in drink or food preparation; potable water is water that is safe to be used as drinking water. The amount of drinking water required to maintain good health varies, and depends on physical activity level, a ...

network, water sampling stations are installed at various points along the network's route. These sampling stations are typically positioned at street level, where they connect to a local

water main A water distribution system is a part of water supply network with components that carry potable water from a centralized treatment plant or wells to consumers to satisfy residential, commercial, industrial and fire fighting requirements. Defini ...

, and are designed as enclosed, secured boxes containing a small sink and spigot to aid in sample collection. Collected samples are analyzed for bacteria, chlorine levels, pH, inorganic and organic pollutants, turbidity, odor and many other water quality indicators.

Regulation

In the United States, water sampling stations aid in public infrastructural safety in regards to water quality monitoring and help municipalities comply with federal and state drinking water regulations.

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

has 965 sampling stations that are distributed based on population density, water pressure zones, proximity to water mains and accessibility. The stations rise about 4½ feet above the ground and are made of heavy cast iron. Using these stations, the

New York City Department of Environmental Protection The New York City Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) is the department of the government of New York City that manages the city's water supply and works to reduce air, noise, and hazardous materials pollution. Under a 1.3 billion do ...

(DEP) collects more than 1,200 water samples per month from up to 546 locations.

Cultural references

* In

William Gibson William Ford Gibson (born March 17, 1948) is an American-Canadian speculative fiction writer and essayist widely credited with pioneering the science fiction subgenre known as ''cyberpunk''. Beginning his writing career in the late 1970s, his ...

's ''

Pattern Recognition Pattern recognition is the automated recognition of patterns and regularities in data. It has applications in statistical data analysis, signal processing, image analysis, information retrieval, bioinformatics, data compression, computer graphi ...

'' the protagonist Cayce Pollard mentions Water Sampling Stations. Her "favorite fantasy of alternative employment is to stroll Manhattan like an itinerant sommelier, addressing one's palate with various tap waters of the City". (Chapter 4, Page 26, Paperback Edition)

References

Water supply {{watersupply-stub