Annadale Staten Island Sewer Construction

Annadale Residents To Be Hooked Up To City's Sewer System
October 24, 2007

A few hundred Staten Island homes and businesses are on their way to being a little more connected with the rest of the city – or at least with the part of the city that handles their waste water. Borough Reporter Amanda Farinacci has details on a project that will rid them of one dirty job.

Nearly 40 blocks of homes and businesses in the Annadale neighborhood will say goodbye to antiquated septic systems and connect to the city sewer system for the first time ever, thanks to a $35 million project announced Wednesday.

“New Yorkers whose residences are already connected to sewers do take this convenience for granted, but to anyone who has had to pump out a septic tank, the benefits of a sewer system are immediately clear,” said Mayor Michael Bloomberg.

The project, which actually began this summer, will install larger and more reliable water mains, improved catch basins and enhanced sanitary sewers in a triangular 40 block section of this South Shore community.

For 220 homes and 30 businesses it means an end to septic systems, which can pose health and safety dangers, and an improvement to storm drainage to prevent flooding after heavy rains.

It also means lots of construction, something resident Andrea Gulotta, who recently switched from septic to sewer, says is not a lot of fun.

“It’s a big mess. It’s still a big mess in front of my house, because, like I said, I just got it done,” said Gulotta. “It's just, you know, messy. Chopping up the streets, the sidewalks keep getting cracked, and they keep having to come and repair them.”

The Annadale Merchants Association has a plan to quell the fears of residents and local businesses about the impact of the project and plans to educate the neighborhood by using posters about the timeline and continue its involvement with the city by trying to form a business improvement district.

“It’s a two-year project, so does that mean we're gonna lose customers for two years? I don't think so. I think most people are gonna drive by and see what's really going on, and see it's really not that bad, however the scare is there,” said Frank Arlia of the Annadale Merchants Association.

The businesses and homes will have to pay to hook up to the sewer system and they'll have to pay annual sewer charges, but at least they won't have to deal with the messy and sometimes expensive job of clearing out a septic tank.

Sewer Floods In Queens

Comptroller: Queens Home To Most Sewer Floods In The City
August 19, 2007

The city comptroller’s office says Queens – which is already known for flooding when rainy weather hits – is now also home to the most sewer floods in the city.

The comptroller's office says the borough received 1,089 claims for damage caused by the sewer system overflowing from July 1998 to June 2007.

So far, only 297 of the claims have been settled for a total of $1.3 million.

Queens has more than twice the claims of any other borough. Staten Island comes in second with 536 claims. Brooklyn had 485; the Bronx had 416 and Manhattan had 193.

The city's Department of Environmental protection says the sewers of Queens are still trying to keep up with the borough's rapid development.

In the last five years, almost $1 billion has been spent on sewer improvements citywide and approximately $250 million per year will be spent over the next ten years on city sewer systems.

China's Yellow River Pollution

from HowStuffWorks. The Yellow River, cradle of China's thousands-year-old civilization, is shrinking and polluted so badly that nearly 70% of the river is not safe for drinking or swimming. Industrial waste and sewage, agricultural pollution and shipping discharges are to blame for the river's declining health. See how sewer and septic systems work in this news video from Reuters.

How Sewage Is Treated In A Filtration Plant

The Water Is Wide

James Taylor singing one of the best songs about "Water"

The water is wide I cant cross over
And neither have I wings to fly
Build me a boat That can carry two
And both shall row My love and I
There is a ship And she sails the sea
Shes loaded deep As deep can be
But not so deep As the love I'm in
I know not how I sink or swim
Oh love is handsome And love is fine
The sweetest flower When first its new
But love grows old And waxes cold
And fades away Like summer dew
Build me a boat That can carry two
And both shall row My love and I
And both shall row My love and I

Exploring India

New York City Water: 1941

ANIMATED DRAWINGS DESCRIBE THE RELATION BETWEEN RAINFALL & LIFE; THE SOURCES OF CITY WATER SUPPLY; WELLS, RIVERS, LAKES & WATERSHEDS; WATERBORNE DISEASES & METHODS OF WATER DISTRIBUTION.
from the prelinger archives
Contents. How New York City gets its water and how that water is protected from pollution, shown in animation and straight photography.
As views of animals drinking are shown, the commentator says that water is essential to all living things. There follow views of rain, streams, forests, grasslands, and deserts as the commentator explains the importance of rainfall to vegetation.
The sources of water used by man are indicated. Water is dipped from a spring and drawn from a well. It is shown that large wells used by cities tap underground water supplies. Lakes and rivers are shown as sources from which some cities draw their water supply.
The remainder of the film explains the operation of a large city water-supply system. Watersheds, lakes, and aqueducts are shown, and their place in the water system explained. There are views of a grade tunnel that carries water through a mountain, and of the pressure tunnel that carries the water under the Hudson River. The various watersheds, lakes, and aqueducts are identified by name.
A sewage treatment plant is shown as the commentator says that such plants reduce the pollution caused by sewage and industrial waste. In a laboratory, microscopic examination is made of a water sample. A measured amount of water is placed in a culture medium, incubated, and the resulting colonies of bacteria observed. Tests for alkalinity, solids, and excessive nitrogen content and turbidity are briefly suggested. It is shown that, when water stands for some time in a lake or reservoir, the suspended matter settles out. The use of alum in precipitating suspended matter is demonstrated. Lime is added to reduce the acidity caused by the alum. The use of sand filters, the addition of carbon, aeration, and chlorination are also shown as means of safeguarding the water supply.
Beginning with the tunnels that lead the water into the city, the system that distributes the water to the consumer is shown. The water continues on its way through risers and mains. The commentator says that, while gravity flow brings the water into the city, at some points pressure pumps are required. There is a view of the pressure pumps. A series of views indicate the many uses of water in a city.

Water Testing In Action With A LaMotte Kit

Erskine from Freeport, NY shows us his project on "Which Factors In Water Provides The Best Health Factors For Humans."

Questions

1. What does PH measure?
2. What is better for us, water that is more acidic or alkaline?
3. What does turbidity measure?
4. Why is water that is very turbid no good for us?
5. How would a high level of nitrates in water effect our blood?

How India Is Under Threat From Water Pollution

broadcast 10/26/07, bbc news
Contaminated water is the biggest single cause of human death and disease, a UN report has said.
Damian Grammaticas reports from India.

Rocking The Boat

from August 22, 2003, on ny1.com Adam Green was chosen as the New Yorker of the week
Rocking The Boat Helps Students Learn About Themselves And The Environment

In the concrete jungle, we found an oasis. This week's New Yorker of the Week has found a way to use the environment to pave the way for a better future for teenagers.

Adam Green says he’s not just building boats, he's helping to build kids one piece at a time.

“This is something that can make them stand out in their own minds and make them feel really special,” he says.

Green didn't know when he started a volunteer boat building project in college it would lead to his life's passion. But eight years later, he's still going strong with Rocking the Boat, a non-profit boat building program for teenagers with a far greater goal.

“Knowing that they can solve problems, knowing that things happen and we can deal with them,” says Green. “We can’t deal with everything in our lives, but certainly when you're working with wood on a boat you can talk things out, look at the problems and resolve them. I think that kind of problem solving, as deep as you can imagine, is a really, really powerful part of this.”

More than 20 kids work together in Green’s shop in the Bronx for a semester or for the summer, learning everything from sanding to steam-bending to sawing. They start the course by traveling into the woods for their own lumber, and then begin building the traditional wooden boat from scratch.

Edmanuel Roman has been with the program for three years, and says it was Green who helped him realize his dream of being a carpenter.

“He puts me into harder stuff, he challenges me, and I actually like that about him,” says Roman.

The kids all seem to agree that the process is incredible, but they all say that the greatest reward of all is seeing the boat finished and actually being able to use it.

“Just to see you worked on a project and see a final project, it's a great feeling. It’s undescribable. And it gives us youth something to do. I'm really proud of what I'm doing,” said Meliza Pena.

“When we go from scratch like that, then it’s like you started from the very beginning on my own, and I used my skills and the help of others to make this,” says Elliyaas Carter.

Rocking the Boat doesn't stop there. They've partnered up with five environmental groups to research, get water samples, and physically revitalize and purify the Bronx River. The Parks Department has now even invested in Rocking the Boat, funding them to do some of their research.

So whether they're in the shop or on the water, the students learn their impact on the community is limitless.

“It's using a real medium to teach students,” says Green. “In the shop it's wood and tools in the process of making a real wooden boat that really works, and on the water it’s taking those real boats and really using them.”

“I feel like I can achieve anything,” says Pena. “If you put your mind to it you can.”

So, for giving these kids a chance to build a better future, Adam Green is our New Yorker of the Week.

For more information on Rocking the Boat, or to donate, please call (718) 466-5799, or visit www.rockingtheboat.org.

Bronx River History

Some information to accompany the film above From thirteen.org
In 1600, the Bronx River, used to be called Aquehung or "River of High Bluffs" by the Mohecan Indians who first lived and fished along it. The Bronx River is 23 miles and runs through the Bronx and Southern Westchester. The Bronx is a perfect place for urban life, it has a peaceful corridor of green for fishing, strolling, biking, boating and nature study.

Around the 1700's 12 mills were producing paper, flour, pottery, tapestries, barrels and snuff. These mills were powered by water running down the river. The water was considered so pure and wholesome that during the 1820s and 1830s the New York City board of Aldermen debated ways to tap into its supply to the growing city with drinking water. The Bronx River valley was nearly turned into an industrial corridor during railroad construction in the 1840s. In 1905 the Bronx River Valley sewer started absorbing some of the worst sewage. At the end of the 19th century, the Bronx River was so polluted by the industrialized city, that people called it an open sewer. The dumping of garbage in the Bronx river had killed a lot of marine life by that time, and was in dire need of help. Lehman college had taken consideration in cleaning the Bronx River because of the lowering sea life levels in the water and its surrounding area. The species in the water are very important to the condition of the water, the combination of the decreasing life and the garbage dumping was only making conditions worse. The community first decided to migrate fish into the water, because fish are important indicators. Scientists can tell the water problems by the way the fish were living. After some cleaning projects for the Bronx river, the population of fish has increased, thus the fishing boats have increased. Now, more than 305 of reagents questions have issues connecting to the flier put out for the workshop. It can be learned by studying and increasing your knowledge of the Bronx River. The Bronx River is now in the center of abandoned factories and industries. While they are working; this can be unsafe for the environment when things such as pollution affect it.

Has the Bronx River improved? Let's see!

Kenyan Schools: Water Is Life

Questions:

1. Why is rain water so important in Kenya?
2. How many toilets must over a thousand children share?
3. How is time lost from learning in schools in this film?

Peru: Land Of the Incas

Questions

1. Where is there water in Peru?
2. Why do you think this film was made?
3. Why do they say, "Peru has it all?"

UNICEF: Providing Latrines and Promoting Health in Ethiopia

Questions:

1. What did people use before toilets were built?
2. What percent of Ethiopians have access (can get) to clean water?

Cambodian Child Survival And Clean Water

from the unicef website: "More than 2.6 billion people – forty per cent of the world’s population – lack basic sanitation facilities, and over one billion people still use unsafe drinking water sources. As a result, thousands of children die every day from diarrhoea and other water-, sanitation- and hygiene-related diseases and many more suffer and are weakened by illness.
The lack of access to safe water and sanitation has many other serious repercussions. Children – and particularly girls – are denied their right to education because they are busy fetching water or are deterred by the lack of separate and decent sanitation facilities in schools. Women are forced to spend large parts of their day fetching water. Poor farmers and wage earners are less productive due to illness, and national economies suffer. Without safe water and sanitation, sustainable development is impossible.

Questions:
1. One out of every eight children dies before what age in Cambodia?
2. How is fresh water being brought to Cambodian people?
3. What is being taught to the people to help them?

Unicef Children's Day

Two buckets of safe water a day is the minimum ...
Two buckets of safe water a day is the minimum a child needs to live, yet 4000 children die EVERY DAY because they don't even have that. For many, the dangers lie in collecting water -- a job often handed out to girls and women. Instead of attending school, a child may walk several hours a day to the nearest water source. Children's health improves and school attendance rises when water-pumps are installed in schools. UNICEF works around the globe installing latrines and pumps but 1.1 billion people still drink unclean water. Basic sanitation and hygiene education has a dramatic effect on reducing mortality and poverty.

UNICEF and the European Commission's Humanitarian Aid Office, ECHO, are working with local communities to boost child survival in Cambodia, which suffers from Asia's worst child mortality rate. An average of one of every eight children here dies before the age of five, in part because many have no access to water and sanitation facilities

Questions
1. Name a disease caused by unhealthy water?
2. Why do so many children miss school in some countries?
3. How many people in the world still drink unclean water?

British Tourists Visit Turkmenistan-Part 2

British Tourists Visit Turkmenistan-Part 1

Another water bridge country in our project
Turkmenistan (also known as Turkmenia) is a Turkic country in Central Asia. The name Turkmenistan is derived from Persian, meaning "land of the Turkmen". Its capital is Ashgabat derived from Persian, as well, loosely translates as "the city of love.". Until 1991, it was a constituent republic of the Soviet Union, the Turkmen Soviet Socialist Republic. It is bordered by Afghanistan to the southeast, Iran to the southwest, Uzbekistan to the northeast, Kazakhstan to the northwest, and the Caspian Sea to the west. Eighty-seven percent of the population is Muslim. According to CIA World Factbook 2006 figures, Turkmenistan ranks 5th in the world for GDP growth rate. Although it is wealthy in natural resources in certain areas, most of the country is covered by the Karakum (Black Sands) Desert. It has a single-party system and was ruled by President for Life Saparmurat Niyazov until 21 December 2006, when he died of cardiac arrest. Presidential elections were held on 11 February 2007. Gurbanguly Berdimuhammedow was declared the winner with 89% of the vote. He was sworn in on 14 February 2007.

Scenes From Sweden

One of the countries we are building a bridge to
Sweden, officially the Kingdom of Sweden (Swedish: Konungariket Sverige (help·info)), is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It has been a member of the European Union since 1995. Its capital city is Stockholm.

At 449,964 km² (173,720 square miles), Sweden is the third largest country in Western Europe. Sweden has a low population density except in its metropolitan areas; 84% of the population lives in urban areas, which take up only 1.3% of the total land area.[1] The citizens enjoy a high standard of living and the country is generally perceived as modern and liberal,[2] with an organizational and corporate culture that is non-hierarchical and collectivist compared to its Anglo-Saxon counterparts.[3] Nature conservation, environmental protection and energy efficiency are generally prioritized in policy making and embraced by the general public in Sweden.[4][5]

Sweden has a long tradition as a major exporter of iron, copper and timber. Improved transportation and communication allowed more remote natural assets to be utilized on a larger scale, most notably timber and iron ore. In the 1890s, universal schooling and industrialization enabled the country to develop a successful manufacturing industry and by the twentieth century, Sweden emerged as a welfare state, consistently achieving a high position among the top-ranking countries in the UN Human Development Index (HDI). Sweden has a rich supply of water power, but lacks significant oil and coal deposits.

Bronx River Environmental Group

August 13, 2007
An often overlooked natural resource in the Bronx is the focus of a new environmental art project. NY1 Arts Reporter Stephanie Simon explains in the following report.
A river flows in the Bronx, but not everyone in the borough knows about it.
“I didn't even know we had a river in the Bronx, to be honest with you,” says 17-year-old Stephanie Jaquez. “I don't think a lot of people know that at all.”
Even those who have heard of it, have been on the river. But as part of the Bronx River Art Center's eco-media program, a group of students are spending much of their summer exploring and documenting the Bronx River. They're taking pictures and recording sound for an environmental art project.
Hector Canonge is their teaching artist.
“Basically, what I’m teaching is the integration of technologies,” says Canonge. “We are using sound imaging photography and video and also GPS which to create an environmental map of the river.”
To collect the data, they launch homemade boats from the new Hunts Point Riverside Park, with help from the folks at Rocking The Boat. The kids in that program make the boats and do the actual conservation work along the river, including planting oyster beds.
Tuesdays the kids are out on the water in the boats collecting sound samples and taking photos and getting GPS coordinates. On Thursday they're back at the Bronx River Art Center, uploading the content and translating it into their virtual map of the river.
That virtual map will be part of a new kiosk at the center, showing all the environmental work being done by various organizations on the river. It's the first project of its kind focused on the 24-mile long Bronx River.
“I think that it is important we have more socially-conscience art work, especially right now where we are at a critical point with the environment being over used and mistreated,” says BRAC media coordinator Heidi Boisvert.
And it’s important to keep the information flowing.
“I never knew what was up with the Bronx River. I never knew that there are things that live in the Bronx River. There are other organisms of life and everything,” says 13-year-old Dominque Williams.
The new virtual map kiosk will be unveiled at the Bronx River Art Center on August 17th.

Hunts Point Pollution

Hunts Point Residents Raising A Stink About Sewage In Area
June 09, 2007
A South Bronx community group organized a bus ride Saturday through what its members say are environmental trouble spots in their neighborhood.

Residents and environmentalists took a bus to the Department of Environmental Protection's Hunts Point Water Pollution Control Plant and the New York Organic Fertilizer Company to rally against the foul smell and pollution they say are caused by the two sites.

“I care very much about environmental justice in New York City as a whole so it’s definitely time for us to do our part to support each other, come out and support other communities that are dealing with the same problems,” said one rally attendee.

“[It’s time to do what’s right, to control odors, to do a real audit as to what’s coming out of that plant, and to install odor controls so that we don’t smell that out of the fence line, in the parks and on the greenway that we fought so hard for,” said another.

Advocates say the stench is especially nasty during the warm summer months and that it is contributing to the high asthma rates in city children.

“It’s a horrible smell,” said Jessie McDonald of Mothers on the Move. “And we’ve been trying to negotiate with them for years to come to some kind of conclusion that would benefit them and the community, but nothing ever worked out.”

“Mayor [Michael] Bloomberg has come out and said that he wants a green New York City,” said another Mothers on the Move member, Cerita Parker. “Okay. So, we want the same things he wants. This community is overburdened with so many city or state or whatever projects that are going on and we feel that we need something more positive.”

The group also toured the construction site of the DEP's new waste processors near Barretto Point Park, and the site of a new jail proposed by the mayor.

Newtown Creek Pollution

January 12, 2005
One of the most polluted waterways in the country forms part of the Brooklyn and Queens border. Newtown Creek is filled with pollutants, but now the owner of one of the companies responsible has been arrested, Constantine Quadrozzi, CEO of Quality Concrete.

Brooklyn District Attorney Charles Hynes announced the arrest at a news conference Tuesday.

“What we saw really, quite simply, was appalling,” said Hynes. “The direct discharge into the creek by these companies had so polluted the waterway that it was turned into a sewer.”

Quality Concrete is charged with dumping liquid cement into the creek, which is a part of the Hudson River estuary. Quadrozzi was charged with more than 40 felonies and misdemeanors, punishable with fines up to $$50,000 a day and up to four years behind bars.

Hynes was alerted to the problem by the watchdog group Riverkeeper. The group discovered the pollution in 2003 and planned to sue the company. But Quality Concrete said it would clean up its act – it didn't.

That's when the district attorney stepped in with criminal charges.

Now, Riverkeeper wants the focus put back on ExxonMobil, which was responsible for a 17 million gallon oil spill 50 years ago. The oil is still around, seeping into ground water and land.

“People want to use the waterways, but they're limited because of the pollution and impact that is there,” said Ludger Balan of the group Urban Divers.

“The fish that do go up this creek get exposed to the benzene in the creek,” said Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the chief prosecutor for Riverkeeper, “then will go down into New York Harbor or Long Island sound. A fisherman will catch it and feed it to his family, not knowing he's feeding them carcinogenic materials.”

Hynes vowed to crack down on any other companies polluting the creek. Environmentalists say all this sends the right message: If you pollute for profit, you will pay.

- Tanya Valle

Water Tunnel In 2006

August 09, 2006
Hundreds of feet under Manhattan, workers have finished excavation work on the second stage of the city's third water tunnel project.
The third tunnel already services some areas of Manhattan, the Bronx and Queens, but this $1 billion leg of the project takes its reach citywide, though the water won't start flowing until 2009.
The city says work began in 1970 to ease pressure on the city's older tunnels one and two, which were built during the early 1900's.
The entire project is slated for completion within the next 15 years. Once finished, the third tunnel is expected to almost double the city's 1.2 billion gallon per day water supply capacity.
Since breaking ground for the project 35 years ago, 23 workers have died during construction.

Protecting New York's Watershed

December 19, 2003
The city is buying up more land upstate in the ongoing effort to keep city water clean.
Mayor Michael Bloomberg and the Environmental Protection Agency announced Friday the city will spend an additional $25 million for land in the Croton watershed. That's enough to keep up to 700 acres free of development and pollution in Westchester, Putnam and Dutchess County.
Since 1997, the city has bought more than 50,000 acres under the Land Acquisition Program.
The Croton watershed supplies 10 percent of the city's water.

Sesame Street: Willie Whimple On Water Pollution

One of a series of short segments done on Sesame Street, featuring Willie Whimple, a destroyer of Nature

New York Water Tunnel

from ny1.com,August 09, 2006
Hundreds of feet under Manhattan, workers have finished excavation work on the second stage of the city's third water tunnel project.
The third tunnel already services some areas of Manhattan, the Bronx and Queens, but this $1 billion leg of the project takes its reach citywide, though the water won't start flowing until 2009.
The city says work began in 1970 to ease pressure on the city's older tunnels one and two, which were built during the early 1900's.
The entire project is slated for completion within the next 15 years. Once finished, the third tunnel is expected to almost double the city's 1.2 billion gallon per day water supply capacity.
Since breaking ground for the project 35 years ago, 23 workers have died during construction.
NY1’s Rebecca Spitz filed this report.
Mayor Michael Bloomberg swapped his muck boots for street shoes after spending Wednesday morning 550 feet under Manhattan.
"It's just amazing. We went over to 59th [Street] and First [Avenue], and here we are on the west side," said the mayor.
The underground journey marked the end of excavation on the Manhattan leg of the city's third water tunnel, a $1 billion project designed to allow for inspection and repair to tunnels one and two, built during the early 1900's.
“God forbid tunnel one or two collapses, at least we'll have a backup and the city would continue,” said Bloomberg. “Without that backup, the city couldn't survive without water."
This tunnel is eight and a half miles long, running from West 30th Street in three directions: South to Lower Manhattan; north to Central Park, where it will connect with stage one of the project, which runs from Yonkers, through the Bronx and into Manhattan before heading into Astoria, Queens; and crosstown before heading north near the Midtown Tunnel.
"It's hard to express the complexity of it, just some of the things that need to take place. It's different from regular construction," said sandhog Dennis McGuire.
Working in the tunnel is both difficult and dangerous. Twenty-three sandhogs have died since construction began in 1970.
It's not hard to imagine how. There's only one way in and out of the tunnel, which is nearly 60 stories underground.
Ed DePinter operates the crane that handles all the equipment going or coming out.
"I started working about 18 years ago on the tunnel, and I have been a part of it for most of my career as an operating engineer,” he said. “It is something to be proud of, and I didn't think I’d ever see the end of it "
He’s not the only one. The tunnel project has spanned six administrations. It's the largest infrastructure project in city history.
“It's one of those things nobody appreciates while you're doing it,” said Bloomberg. “They don't want to spend the money. They say, 'Oh, let the next generation do it.' But if we want to leave our children and grandchildren a better world, we have to invest in these kinds of things."
Once finished, the third tunnel is expected to almost double the city's 1.2 billion gallon per day water supply capacity.
The Manhattan section of the tunnel is expected to be completed 2012.

It's All One Water

We face a worldwide water crisis unless steps are taken to protect this most critical resource. This piece was written and produced by David Rothmiller. Music by Andres Condon. For more info: trickdogfilms.com

Gowanus Canal Pollution

from a report ny NY1.com, July 09, 2004
The Gowanus Canal is known to its neighbors in Brooklyn as the "Lavender Lake," after years of pollution made it into a smelly, ugly mess. But there is a movement to clean-up the waterway and make it more accessible to residents. NY1's Roger Clark has the story.

The Gowanus Canal's reputation can maybe best be described similar to the Grinch who stole Christmas - stink, stank, stonk.

“Five years ago it stunk to high heaven,” says Kevin Breslin of the Gowanus Dredgers Canoe Club. “Touching the water itself was toxic.”

So why would anyone in their right mind want to navigate these infamous waters by canoe? Just ask the members of the canoe club.

“We're trying to show people that it's doable, it's enjoyable and it's pleasurable,” says club member Paul Bader. “We also want to draw attention to the fact of what needs to be done to make it even more attractive by cleaning it up, getting some type of development here and expanding the public access.”

Club members, which number around 50, get their access at Second Street in Carroll Gardens for a journey through the two-mile long waterway, built in the late 1860's and named for the chief of the Canarsees tribe of Native Americans.

Paddling towards New York Harbor, there are the canal’s many bridges, its mysterious dark tunnels, and a unique view of this neglected piece of the Big Apple.

“It's a different perspective of New York,” says club member Ellie Hanlon. “It's a really nice way to see the city.”

“I've grown up near the water, and I love having access to it by foot, without having to get in the car to get in the water,” says fellow canoe lover Bill Duke.

When New Yorkers hear the word Gowanus, first they think of the canal, and of course, the expressway. Well let me tell you, the traffic is a whole lot better in the canal than it is on the expressway.

But the Gowanus is by no means paradise. A flushing tunnel brings fresh oxygenated water in, yet there are still signs of its polluted past.

In other words, don't drink the water.

“But if you were to splash a little on your hand, it's not as though you'll disintegrate, aside from the legend and lore,” says canoe club member Owen Foote. “You basically wash with a little soap and water, and you can go have a bagel.”

And if it's up to the dredgers, you might be able to someday have that bagel at a waterfront park overlooking the Gowanus Canal.

Splish Splash: The Original

Bobby Darin, 9 months before his death in 1973
"Legendary entertainer Bobby Darin had a wide range of talent. Born Walden Robert Cassotto on May 14th, 1936, Darin rose from poor beginnings in Harlem and the South Bronx. He also fought rheumatic fever as a child, which damaged his heart and plagued him throughout his life. As a result of these obstacles, he worked extremely hard to overcome them. Knowing his life would not be a long one, his ambition to succeed was fueled by an overwhelming desire to make it big in show business." From the official Bobby Darin website
As a child he lived at 300 E. 126th Street, 60 Baruch Drive (on the Lower East Side),
and 629 East 135th Street, Apartment 2-W Bronx. He attended PS 43 in the Bronx, Bronx High School of Science and Hunter College.
The Lyrics:
Splish splish, I was takin' a bath
Long about a Saturday night
A rub-a-dub, just relaxin' in the tub
Thinkin' everything was alright
Well, I stepped out the tub, put my feet on the floor
I wrapped the towel around me and I
Opened the door, and then I
Splish, splash... I jumped back in the bath.
Well how was I to know there was a party going on?

They was a-splishin' and a'splashin'
Reelin' with the feelin', movin' and a'groovin'
Rockin' and a'rollin', yeah

Bing bang, I saw the whole gang
Dancin' on my living room rug, yeah!
Flip flop, they was donin' the bop
All the teens had the dancin'
But there was lollipop with a Peggy Sue
Good Golly, Miss Mally was-a even there, too!
A- well-a, splish splash, I forgot about the bath
I went and put my dancin' shoes on, yay...

I was a rollin' and a strollin', reelin' with the feelin',
Moving and a groovin', splishin' and a splashin', yeah!

Yes, I was a-splishin'' and a splashin'...
I was a-rollin' and a-strollin'...

Yeah, I was a-movin' and a-groovin'
We was a-reelin' with the feelin'
We was a-rollin' and a-strollin'
Movin' with the groovin' splish splash, yeah!

Splish Splash: Part 2

Splish Splash: Part 1

Part 1 of a kid video explaining the importance of water from the United Nations Water For Life Decade site

Diary Of Jay-Z In Africa: Eyes Wide Open

After meeting with the U.N., Jay-Z goes to Africa. "I couldn't believe what people had to go through just to get water," he says.

Jay Z: Water For Life

Nearly 2 million children die each year due to unsafe water and inadequate sanitation. On November 16th, at the United Nations, American rap star Jay-Z premiered his new video diary, 'Water For Life', which captures his journey into areas affected by the ongoing global water crisis.
In a partnership with MTV and the UN, Jay-Z toured several developing countries, meeting with young people who do not have access to safe water. He travelled with some of these children along the same roads they take every day to fetch water for their families and schools.
"It is unbelievable that someone so young could be doing that every single day," he said.

Water Pollution: Cause, Effects, Solutions

from youtube, a student final

Water Pollution: We Need Clean Water For Beautiful Days

a school project on water pollution from youtube with "a beautiful day" soundtrack

Save The Water, Nasugbu

"commercial about water pollution from bsn 1-I San Juan De Dios Educational Foundation Inc. Project In Environmental Education"
Nasugbu is a 1st class municipality in the province of Batangas, Philippines. According to the 2000 census, it has a population of 96,113 people in 19,615 households.

NY Water, #1

from ny1.com, 7/05/07:
The Department of Health has lifted a warning about New York City’s drinking water.

Health officials say tests on the water have come back clean. The alert was originally put in place Thursday when dirt and other particles were detected in an upstate reservoir, but they have since run their course through the city's water system.

Officials believe the particles were churned up by Wednesday's thundershowers. Extra particles can interfere with the chlorination process, potentially contaminating the water supply.

Health officials said New Yorkers with compromised immune systems, like the elderly, pregnant women and infants were at risk.

The DOH says it will continue to work with city and state agencies to assess water quality and will monitor for possible illnesses associated with the water supply.