MyFoxNY is reporting that there is a chlorine leak at a reservoir in Yonkers that supplies water to New York City.
Hazardous materials crews are at Hillview Reservoir. The leak apparently happened Wednesday morning in a building that is next to the reservoir. Hillview Reservoir is next to the New York State Thruway in Southeast Yonkers.
There is no word if any of the chemical actually leaked into the water supply and there has not been any announcement made about drinking water concerns.
Small amounts of chlorine are added to drinking water to treat it. It kills the bacteria, viruses and other micro-organisms in the water, so that it is safe to drink.
It is unclear how much chlorine leaked next to the 100 year old reservoir.
The Department of Environmental Protection says the chlorine will turn into gas if it comes in contact with water.
The Hillview Reservoir is a 164 acres storage reservoir in southeastern Yonkers, New York. It was built within a six-year period from 1909-1915 by the New York City Board of Water Supply to receive water from the newly-constructed Catskill Aqueduct, which drained water from the Ashokan Reservoir, and sent it down into the Kensico Reservoir, where it would, in turn, be drained back into the Catskill Aqueduct, and sent into the Hillview Reservoir. Frank E. Winsor was the engineer in charge of construction of both Hillview and Kensico as well as 32 miles of the Catskill Aqueduct.
The reservoir itself has a maximum capacity of 900 million US gallons, and water from the reservoir is sent through New York City Water Tunnels No. 1 and No. 2. New York City Water Tunnel No. 3, which is still under construction, is planned to take water from the Kensico Reservoir, and immediately send it into the Hillview Reservoir, and then into the rest of New York City. The reservoir itself does not impound a river, and is held up by four walls.
(Source: MyFoxNY / YWN Desk – NYC)
Join the official YWN WhatsApp status
8 Responses
What are Hazardous materials doing in a building next to the reservoir?
The chlorine referred to here is not a hazardess material, it is an “ingredient” of NYC water. However, DEP deploys their Hazardess material crew is such a situation because they are equiped to clean up spills.
I am not a scientist, but I believe that chlorine will probably evaporate long before it reaches the city. That would explain why no warning was issued.
(It will probably first kill all the copepods!)
sounds like its no big deal but just enough to get the envirowakkos in a tizzy.
charliehall,
you are 100% over reacting to this. the chlorine they have on site is to treat the water. i am sure the amount that leaked is extremely negligible otherwise we would have had boil orders etc. even if it went into the water it would be no worse than swallowing swimming pool water.
chill out!!
Ladies and Gentleman,
It’s obvious that none of you are chemists. I even wonder how much attention any of you paid to your high-school chemistry teacher (probably none).
In any case, chlorine (chemical symbol Cl2) is the most economical and efficient disinfectant for potable-water production. Although it is an extremely hazardous material, without it, countless water consumers downstream of Hillview Reservoir would sicken and die from the microbes that wouldn’t be killed by the Cl2. So you have to weigh the benefits against the costs, and the benefits (and this is not an opinion, it’s a fact) outweigh the costs.
The chlor-alkali industry has an enviable safety record regardless that there have been a few (and just a few) deaths in the United States due to Cl2 releases. Although there are substitutes for liquid Cl2 as a disinfectant at Hillview, all of them (and I know them all, do you?) have inherent problems that make all of them inferior to Cl2.
I cannot share with any of you any of what I know about the Hillview Reservoir complex and the NYC watershed and supply system due to security concerns. It is enough to say that accidents happen, and in many cases, perhaps this one, human error may have played a role. However, nobody was killed and the water supply remains safe.
Therefore, unless you are knowledgeable about water chemistry, Cl2, Hillview Reservoir, and water treatment in general, stop the alarmist bullshit, know your role and STF up.
As Jews, we’re supposed to be the light of the world. But none of you can’t be a light to anyone if you’re an ignoramus. And being able to read the Torah without knowing a stick of science and having forelocks that hang down to your waist just doesn’t cut it.
The Captain
Uh oh. I made a typo. The second sentence in my last paragraph should read, “But none of you can be a light to anyone if you’re an ignoramus.”
Nobody said I was perfect.
The Captain
The Captain is right. Chlorine gas is used at the Hillview
Reservoir and yes it is the most effective and economical means of treating potable water.
The City of New York purchases over 3000 tons of liquified chlorine gas each year for the treatment its water supplies.
I know this because my employer has been a supplier of chlorine gas to the City.