Come Hell or High Water- The Future of Water Infrastructure in NYC

 

A CSO in Brooklyn Source: Dontflush.me

 

 

The NYC+NJ Living Building Challenge Collaborative recently completed its first firm draft of a feasibility review on achieving Net Positive Water in New York City.

Before I get into a NYC specific discussion, some of you may need a little background-

PETAL INTENT (from the Living Future Institute)

The intent of the Water Petal is to realign how people use water and to redefine ‘waste’ in the built environment, so that water is respected as a precious resource.

Scarcity of potable water is quickly becoming a serious issue as many countries around the world face severe shortages and compromised water quality. Even regions that have avoided the majority of these problems to date due to a historical presence of abundant fresh water are at risk: the impacts of climate change, highly unsustainable water use patterns, and the continued drawdown of major aquifers portend significant problems ahead.

IDEAL CONDITIONS AND CURRENT LIMITATIONS (from the Living Future Institute)

The Living Building Challenge envisions a future whereby all developments are configured based on the carrying capacity of the site: harvesting sufficient water to meet the needs of a given population while respecting the natural hydrology of the land, the water needs of the ecosystem the site inhabits, and those of its neighbors. Indeed, water can be used and purified and then used again—and the cycle repeats.

Currently, such practices are often illegal due to health, land use and building code regulations (or because of the undemocratic ownership of water rights) that arose precisely because people were not properly safeguarding the quality of their water. Therefore, reaching the ideal for water use means challenging outdated attitudes and technology with decentralized site- or district-level solutions that are appropriately scaled, elegant and efficient.

NYC has lots of clean, drinkable water! Why does stormwater and waste water matter?

 

City streets during Hurricane Sandy Source: The Telegraph

I think Hurricane Sandy is the most relatable argument. We will have another storm of that magnitude, and our cities are only getting denser. When the flooding occurred, besides the obvious risks of drowning and water damage, people were advised it is unsafe to leave their homes due to the contaminated water on the streets. For several weeks after, the remnants of sewer water evaporated, making fecal matter airborne and respirable.

On a regular rainy day ( a fraction of an inch in one day), the NYC stormwater system will overflow. It will cause a Combined Sewer overflow (CSO) event, mixing rainwater and stormwater for immediate release into surrounding water bodies without treatment. Although this was intended to be an emergency release only when the system was first designed, COS events now occur almost every time it rains in NYC. So imagine the impact during our next storm!

The Living Building Challenge encourages ecological water flow, which means imitating how natural systems treat and transport water.

While we as a collaborative aren't ready to publish our conclusions publicly yet, a few really great critical thinking questions came up, and I'd like to share my initial reactions to them and maybe even get feedback or other ideas from the greater community:

 

1. If we could start over with NYC, what would our watershed and system look like?

Vacresti Wetland in Bucharest

I think it would look a lot more like the Vacresti wetland; our city would not create concrete walls to try and keep the water out, but rather honor the natural systems and build only on fully dry land within appropriate flood zones.

Elevate the buildings for storm events, and require green roof and bioswale infrastructure to reduce the rush of water into the stormwater infrastructure. If the city's system was designed today, I doubt it would be designed to allow for CSO in the first place.







2. Since we know we can't start over, what is the greatest solution to align with LBC intent for the water petal?

 



A bioswale in Seattle, WA

Some of this answer is across the board. Construct green roofs where solar energy is not as feasible. This will be a really interesting study, to balance water and energy infrastructure in our dense city. Widen sidewalks to create bioswale curbs- everywhere!  This would also help reduce the urban heat island effect, create additional wildlife habitat, and mitigate the impacts of air pollution. (Plus it looks pretty!)


 

3. And Finally, what are the easily achievable, low hanging fruits that we should really push for today- right this minute!

 

Well, this is kind of the fun part, because I think most of the solutions are easy. But, the Collaborative agrees on the following as a first 3:

Allow Compostable Toilets: let the treatment process begin at the source!

Require Waterless Urinals: it flows down on it's own- who needs a flush??

Lower the allowed flow rates for plumbing fixtures- reduce the amount of wastewater we can produce and require the system to treat!