Water, the source of life, is only useful if it’s safe; toxic water is useless. The process of cleaning this water alone is no simple task. Yes, the water around us is dirty, but another issue is that it’s also salt water. Water systems are required in order to treat the water, and allow you to use this water at home.
New York City’s water systems are extremely organized. The developed systems, such as the huge eggs we saw on the water excursion are an example of that. The estuary not only consisted of dirty water, but salty water as well. The clean water act is another example of the developed water systems in NY. Water systems treat what was once toxic water, but that water must also be treated again after its journey to your doors. Toxins are everywhere! Street sewers and sanitary sewers are connected and allow for failure of the system especially when rain comes along and the water ends up flowing into the estuary. Combined sewage outflow is a major problem. Other issues are zones of heavy industry, such as Newtown Creek. Manufacturing and industrial buildings drop their waste right into Newtown Creek! Industrial waste exists as a deep layer in the estuary, and seeing this on the water excursion was definitely disappointing because actually seeing the effect of what we are doing to our water is not the same as hearing about it. Still, what is so amazing here is that that same water that was once toxic becomes cheap drinkable tap water, which so many people around the world would dream of having instead of having to pay 2$ per bottle of water.
Back home, in Amman, Jordan, water systems are not nearly as developed as they are in NYC, and tap water is definitely not drinkable. In such a dry country rain barely sustains us. The salty seas surrounding us, such as the Dead Sea, and the red sea do not provide us with useable water. One source of water is the Jordan River, but it isn’t going to be there for long, as the river is rapidly drying up! I’ve noticed that the people back home at least know how to save water more efficiently than people in NYC. No one is hosing off the streets too often, keeping the tap on, or just generally wasting water, maybe it’s because water is an expensive commodity in Jordan, or maybe it’s because Jordanians are more aware of the lack of available clean water.
Coming out of the ferry I realized that water sanitation is not one bit as easy as I thought it was. There are several complex systems involved in the processes of allowing us to wash our hands, shower, drink water, clean our homes, and hose off our cars or pavements. Back home the main issue we are dealing with is having a dry environment, and not getting enough rain, but after the ferry ride I learnt that an issue that’s just as troublesome is the pollution of water because water isn’t useable without it being sanitized. We must remember though, it’s not all out of our control. The amount of rain we get obviously isn’t in our control, but being able to avoid polluting water and not using what available water we have as trash is in our control. We can solve these issues.
