The Old and New Croton Aqueduct System 1887

The New Croton Aqueduct is an aqueduct in the

New York City water supply system A combination of aqueducts, reservoirs, and tunnels supplies fresh water to New York City. With three major water systems ( Croton, Catskill, and Delaware) stretching up to away from the city, its water supply system is one of the most exte ...

Westchester County, New York Westchester County is located in the U.S. state of New York. It is the seventh most populous county in the State of New York and the most populous north of New York City. According to the 2020 United States Census, the county had a population ...

carrying the water of the

Croton Watershed The Croton Watershed is the New York City water supply system's name for its southernmost watershed and its infrastructure,{{efn, Including dams, spillways, tunnels, pumps, and related mechanical components not part of a hydrological drainage bas ...

. Built roughly parallel to the

Old Croton Aqueduct The Croton Aqueduct or Old Croton Aqueduct was a large and complex water distribution system constructed for New York City between 1837 and 1842. The great aqueducts, which were among the first in the United States, carried water by gravity from ...

it originally augmented, the new system opened in 1890. The old aqueduct remained in service until 1955, when supply from the

Delaware Delaware ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States, bordering Maryland to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and New Jersey and the Atlantic Ocean to its east. The state takes its name from the adjacent ...

and

Catskill Aqueduct The Catskill Aqueduct, part of the New York City water supply system, brings water from the Catskill Mountains to Yonkers where it connects to other parts of the system. History Construction commenced in 1907. The aqueduct proper was completed ...

s was sufficient to take it off line. Waters of the New Croton Aqueduct flow to the

Jerome Park Reservoir The Jerome Park Reservoir is a reservoir located in Jerome Park, a neighborhood in the North Bronx, New York City. The reservoir is surrounded by DeWitt Clinton High School, the Bronx High School of Science, Lehman College, and Walton High Scho ...

the Bronx The Bronx () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Bronx County, in the state of New York. It is south of Westchester County; north and east of the New York City borough of Manhattan, across the Harlem River; and north of the New ...

before entering

Croton Water Filtration Plant The Croton Water Filtration Plant, is a drinking water treatment facility in New York City which began operation in 2015. The plant construction cost was over $3 billion, The facility was built under Van Cortlandt Park's Mosholu Golf Course in ...

Van Cortlandt Park Van Cortlandt Park is a park located in the borough of the Bronx in New York City. Owned by the New York City Department of Parks and Recreation, it is managed with assistance from the Van Cortlandt Park Alliance. The park, the city's third-lar ...

for treatment, then out to distribution.

Overview

The Croton Watershed is one of three systems that provide water to New York City, joined by the waters of the Delaware and Catskill Aqueducts. The Croton system comprises 12 reservoirs and 3 controlled lakes.

History

NCA Shaft 18 Summerfield Street Dunwoodie cut jeh

The New Croton Aqueduct opened on July 15, 1890, replacing the Old Croton Aqueduct. The newer aqueduct is a brick-lined tunnel, in diameter and long, running from the

New Croton Reservoir The New Croton Reservoir is a reservoir in Westchester County, New York, part of the New York City water supply system lying approximately north of New York City. It is the collecting point for water from all reservoirs in the Croton Watershed. ...

in Westchester County to the Jerome Park Reservoir in the Bronx. Water flows then proceed toward the Croton Water Filtration Plant for treatment. Treated water is distributed to certain areas of the Bronx and

Manhattan Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...

. In the late 1990s, the city stopped using water from the Croton system due to numerous

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 ...

issues. In 1997 the

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is an Independent agencies of the United States government, independent executive agency of the United States federal government tasked with environmental protection matters. President Richard Nixon pro ...

(EPA), the U.S. Department of Justice and the

State of New York New York, officially the State of New York, is a state in the Northeastern United States. It is often called New York State to distinguish it from its largest city, New York City. With a total area of , New York is the 27th-largest U.S. state ...

filed suit against the city for violating the

Safe Drinking Water Act The Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA) is the principal federal law in the United States intended to ensure safe drinking water for the public. Pursuant to the act, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is required to set standards for drinking wa ...

and the New York State Sanitary Code. The city government agreed to rehabilitate the New Croton Aqueduct and build a

filtration plant Water purification is the process of removing undesirable chemicals, biological contaminants, suspended solids, and gases from water. The goal is to produce water that is fit for specific purposes. Most water is purified and disinfected for h ...

. The filtration system protects the public from disease-causing microorganisms such as ''

Giardia ''Giardia'' ( or ) is a genus of anaerobic flagellated protozoan parasite Parasitism is a close relationship between species, where one organism, the parasite, lives on or inside another organism, the host, causing it some harm, and ...

'' and ''

Cryptosporidium ''Cryptosporidium'', sometimes informally called crypto, is a genus of apicomplexan parasitic alveolates that can cause a respiratory and gastrointestinal illness (cryptosporidiosis) that primarily involves watery diarrhea (intestinal crypt ...

.'' The Croton Water Filtration Plant was activated in May 2015.

References

{{NYCwater Aqueducts in New York (state) Geography of the Bronx Interbasin transfer Transportation buildings and structures in Westchester County, New York Water infrastructure of New York City

Overview

History

See also

References