"The business is definitely an art, the men are craftsmen..."(YT) NYC's rooftop water tanks are a unique and often overlooked part of the city. Watch as one goes up (its worth the 10 minutes for the money shot at the end): "New York, is water tanks, yes."(YT) "New York, which has thousands of cylindrical wooden rooftop water tanks with conical roofs, couldn't exist without them." Its the only city with its own section under Wiki's water tower page.
posted by allkindsoftime on Jun 22, 2007 - 44 comments

Tap Project. What if every glass of water you drank quenched someone else's thirst? Looks like its only official in NYC restaurants this Thursday, but hopefully it will expand to other cities.
posted by allkindsoftime on Mar 20, 2007 - 20 comments

New York City Water Tunnel No. 3 has been under construction since 1970 and completion is expected in 2020. (Be sure to click the sidebars.) City Water Tunnels Nos. 1 and 2 have been operating continuously since 1917 and 1936, and currently cannot be shut down for repair without disrupting the city's water supply. Popular Mechanics and BLDBLOG have articles, Newsday has photos, and 60 Minutes has an article with video. Local paper The Villager covers the construction of one of the many shafts that connect to the tunnel. It has inspired a one-woman show. The Sandhog Project covers the workers, called "Sandhogs," with photos, sound, and video. Over twenty sandhogs died building the tunnel.
posted by TheOnlyCoolTim on Jul 29, 2006 - 11 comments

New York's Water Ain't Kosher! - You may be aware that shellfish are not kosher. It turns out that little, itty-bitty, microscopic shellfish called copepods are in New York's water. Brita to the rescue?
posted by falconred on Jun 2, 2004 - 18 comments