Citation:  

Wang, Jingyu. “Water Pollution in New York City.” NASA/ADS, Dec. 2021, ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2021AGUFM.H34I..05W/abstract. 

Summary:  

In the article, Wang mentions how combined sewer overflows (CSO’s) are a major contribution to water pollution. Stormwater runoff and untreated sewage flow into rivers in NYC, raising bacteria and degrading water quality. This impacts environmental ecosystems in NYCs waterways. Studies show that tropical storms contain high levels of bacteria and nutrients. With discharged rainwater, untreated sewage and rainfall, those high levels of bacteria can cause illness. Water samples collected in rivers throughout the city, analyzed in labs showed an indicator of sewage contamination with high records of ammonia. Over the years, levels of ammonia increased especially during the pandemic. Since then, greenhouse infrastructure has been used to reduce CSO’s.  

Reflection: 

I agree with the text because when exposed to CSO’s contaminants, it can cause health hazards, making it unsafe to swim in New York City’s rivers. Wang states, “discharge rainwater mixed with untreated sewage during or following rainfall and can contain bacteria that can cause illness.” Rainwater and untreated sewage combined have high levels of bacteria and nutrients degrade NYC’s water quality. This causes the release of polluted water into our waterways.To better understand this article, you might need to look up CSO’s, green infrastructure, roofs, walls, and wetlands to better understand the major cause of water pollution and what is/ has been done to manage the problem. You might also need to look up the measurements of certain contaminants to acknowledge the analyzed data of contaminants in our waterways.  If I could say something to this author, I would ask them how have the numbers changed since this article was published, what has been done about the problem, and what were the effects of CSO on the environment.What this document tells me about my research question is that even the topic water pollution is still a little vague. There are many things that come into play when doing research on water pollution and its causes and effects on a city.

Quotation: 

  • “CSOs discharge to the rivers in NYC and higher nutrient and bacteria levels, further degraded water quality and environmental ecosystem.”