1 00:00:00,720 --> 00:00:03,880 Speaker 1: Hell to everybody. I hope you're having a lovely Saturday 2 00:00:04,000 --> 00:00:07,000 Speaker 1: wherever you are in the world. Chuck, here with a 3 00:00:07,040 --> 00:00:10,639 Speaker 1: Saturday Select selection, and I'm going to go with from 4 00:00:10,680 --> 00:00:15,000 Speaker 1: November twenty nineteen, not even so long ago, as the 5 00:00:15,040 --> 00:00:20,880 Speaker 1: Crow Flies. The episode is NYC Water Colon an Engineering Marvel. 6 00:00:21,760 --> 00:00:24,640 Speaker 1: I love New York City. Everyone knows that I go 7 00:00:24,680 --> 00:00:27,280 Speaker 1: on and on about that city on the show, and 8 00:00:27,440 --> 00:00:33,440 Speaker 1: I'm constantly amazed that city runs, and that the trash 9 00:00:33,640 --> 00:00:37,479 Speaker 1: gets taken away and the mail gets delivered, and that 10 00:00:37,520 --> 00:00:41,040 Speaker 1: people have enough drinking water and water to bathe in 11 00:00:41,120 --> 00:00:45,120 Speaker 1: and cook with. And so it's a pretty unique situation 12 00:00:45,200 --> 00:00:47,000 Speaker 1: there in New York how they get their water. And 13 00:00:47,280 --> 00:00:55,320 Speaker 1: here's that story. Please to enjoy. Welcome to Stuff You 14 00:00:55,320 --> 00:01:00,560 Speaker 1: Should Know, a production of iHeartRadio. 15 00:01:03,760 --> 00:01:06,600 Speaker 2: Hey, and welcome to the podcast. I'm Josh Clark. There's 16 00:01:06,680 --> 00:01:09,880 Speaker 2: Charles so B, Chuck Bryant, there's guest producer Andrew. This 17 00:01:10,040 --> 00:01:12,399 Speaker 2: is Stuff you should Know. Let's get this a. 18 00:01:14,720 --> 00:01:16,000 Speaker 1: I'm excited about this one. 19 00:01:16,800 --> 00:01:21,800 Speaker 2: This was your pick and I was like, what is 20 00:01:21,920 --> 00:01:25,520 Speaker 2: Chuck talking about? Were you really yes? And then Chuck, 21 00:01:25,680 --> 00:01:27,760 Speaker 2: I happened to stumble upon I don't know what I 22 00:01:27,800 --> 00:01:30,959 Speaker 2: was looking for, but an email from somebody who sent 23 00:01:31,120 --> 00:01:35,200 Speaker 2: like a Google doc or something that was a list 24 00:01:35,280 --> 00:01:39,520 Speaker 2: of episodes we said we should do, and people have 25 00:01:39,560 --> 00:01:41,679 Speaker 2: set those in before, but this one was kind of 26 00:01:41,720 --> 00:01:44,800 Speaker 2: condensed and that was on there. So I've stumbled upon 27 00:01:44,880 --> 00:01:46,040 Speaker 2: your dirty little secret. 28 00:01:46,520 --> 00:01:48,920 Speaker 1: I don't think that's where I got it. Oh really, 29 00:01:49,200 --> 00:01:52,360 Speaker 1: I don't think so, but maybe Okay, I just know 30 00:01:52,440 --> 00:01:56,840 Speaker 1: that I am always fascinated by not only New York City, 31 00:01:56,960 --> 00:02:02,360 Speaker 1: but by the fact that New York City functions with 32 00:02:02,480 --> 00:02:05,520 Speaker 1: that many people and all that everything. It's just all 33 00:02:05,560 --> 00:02:08,919 Speaker 1: amazing to me that that city functions with that many people, 34 00:02:09,000 --> 00:02:10,960 Speaker 1: that many buildings, that like, I want to do an 35 00:02:10,960 --> 00:02:13,200 Speaker 1: episode on out trash removal. 36 00:02:13,240 --> 00:02:17,080 Speaker 2: Okay, I want to do one on the mail on 37 00:02:17,200 --> 00:02:20,640 Speaker 2: wastewater treatment. Yeah, oh yeah, that's just New York in general. 38 00:02:20,720 --> 00:02:21,680 Speaker 1: That's been long brewing. 39 00:02:22,200 --> 00:02:23,080 Speaker 2: Are you okay with that? 40 00:02:23,560 --> 00:02:24,000 Speaker 1: Yeah? 41 00:02:24,639 --> 00:02:27,280 Speaker 2: Just I mean, we can mention New York or whatever. 42 00:02:28,639 --> 00:02:31,880 Speaker 1: Big thanks to Dave Ruse though, one of our great writers. 43 00:02:31,960 --> 00:02:34,359 Speaker 1: They put this together and it's really really fascinating. 44 00:02:34,639 --> 00:02:38,119 Speaker 2: Dave's just an amazing human. All of our writers are amazing, 45 00:02:38,200 --> 00:02:40,680 Speaker 2: for sure. Dave is great as well. He's one of 46 00:02:40,960 --> 00:02:43,040 Speaker 2: a few select amazing people. 47 00:02:43,360 --> 00:02:43,560 Speaker 1: Right. 48 00:02:44,240 --> 00:02:48,200 Speaker 2: So the reason why New York, why anybody would ask 49 00:02:48,240 --> 00:02:51,600 Speaker 2: about New York's water is because if you've ever interacted 50 00:02:51,639 --> 00:02:54,520 Speaker 2: with the New Yorker, they talk about their water a lot. 51 00:02:55,080 --> 00:02:57,240 Speaker 2: It's like kind of a thing in New York where 52 00:02:57,280 --> 00:02:59,480 Speaker 2: they're like, our tap water is the best water in 53 00:02:59,520 --> 00:03:04,160 Speaker 2: the country, and they have like a lot of stuff 54 00:03:04,240 --> 00:03:06,920 Speaker 2: to back that up with, and so much so that 55 00:03:06,560 --> 00:03:10,160 Speaker 2: that they say this, this water is actually the reason 56 00:03:10,240 --> 00:03:12,400 Speaker 2: why our bagels and our pizza are so good. 57 00:03:13,120 --> 00:03:15,440 Speaker 1: Yeah, I was. We were both just there for our 58 00:03:15,480 --> 00:03:17,560 Speaker 1: final shows of the year at the Bellhouse thanks to 59 00:03:17,639 --> 00:03:20,440 Speaker 1: people who came out. Yes, they were great, a lot 60 00:03:20,480 --> 00:03:23,280 Speaker 1: of fun. And by the way, the guy that fell 61 00:03:23,320 --> 00:03:27,840 Speaker 1: asleep on the front row on night number two, I 62 00:03:27,880 --> 00:03:30,560 Speaker 1: think it was night number two. I was walking down 63 00:03:30,600 --> 00:03:33,520 Speaker 1: the street and he randomly passed by driving in a 64 00:03:33,560 --> 00:03:37,240 Speaker 1: car and rolled down his window and said, hey man, 65 00:03:37,880 --> 00:03:39,440 Speaker 1: He said great show the other night. 66 00:03:40,160 --> 00:03:41,880 Speaker 2: Right, And I was waiting for him to say, is 67 00:03:41,920 --> 00:03:42,720 Speaker 2: that Freedom Rock? 68 00:03:43,360 --> 00:03:45,120 Speaker 1: And I said thanks dude, I was like front row 69 00:03:45,280 --> 00:03:47,720 Speaker 1: And he was so excited that I remembered that, and 70 00:03:47,760 --> 00:03:50,280 Speaker 1: he said front row and he drove on before I 71 00:03:50,320 --> 00:03:52,760 Speaker 1: had a chance to say you fell asleep. 72 00:03:54,320 --> 00:03:56,320 Speaker 2: He's like, I feel like I was there. Maybe I 73 00:03:56,480 --> 00:03:57,680 Speaker 2: felt like a dream too. 74 00:03:58,080 --> 00:04:01,800 Speaker 1: I don't know, but we were just there. And there 75 00:04:01,840 --> 00:04:05,160 Speaker 1: are many many restaurants in New York where there will 76 00:04:05,200 --> 00:04:08,040 Speaker 1: be like a water cooler or a place where you 77 00:04:08,040 --> 00:04:10,600 Speaker 1: can help yourself to your own cup of water, and 78 00:04:10,640 --> 00:04:13,200 Speaker 1: it will have a big sign on it that says 79 00:04:13,640 --> 00:04:18,799 Speaker 1: New York City tap water and proud all caps underlined letters. 80 00:04:19,160 --> 00:04:22,280 Speaker 2: Yeah, And they mean like they're just getting water out 81 00:04:22,320 --> 00:04:25,000 Speaker 2: of the tap, Whereas in other cities that's a dirty, 82 00:04:25,040 --> 00:04:27,000 Speaker 2: shameful secret that people don't talk about. 83 00:04:27,120 --> 00:04:27,560 Speaker 1: That's right. 84 00:04:27,720 --> 00:04:32,800 Speaker 2: In New York, they proudly boast about it. And just 85 00:04:32,839 --> 00:04:36,560 Speaker 2: the fact that New York or any New Yorker in 86 00:04:36,680 --> 00:04:40,960 Speaker 2: the city gets water at all is pretty spectacular. It's 87 00:04:41,000 --> 00:04:43,039 Speaker 2: like you said, there's a lot of people, there's a 88 00:04:43,040 --> 00:04:46,200 Speaker 2: lot of buildings, and something like more than a billion 89 00:04:46,640 --> 00:04:49,680 Speaker 2: gallons of water flow into New York through the taps 90 00:04:49,760 --> 00:04:50,279 Speaker 2: every day. 91 00:04:50,480 --> 00:04:53,719 Speaker 1: Yeah, I said day with the d yes. It is 92 00:04:53,760 --> 00:04:57,960 Speaker 1: the largest water system in the United States. People from 93 00:04:58,000 --> 00:05:03,479 Speaker 1: all over the world, government officials fly in and take 94 00:05:03,560 --> 00:05:07,640 Speaker 1: meetings with the New York City water people just to see, 95 00:05:07,680 --> 00:05:08,760 Speaker 1: like how have you done it? 96 00:05:10,040 --> 00:05:13,800 Speaker 2: They're just agog, how could we do better? So that's 97 00:05:13,839 --> 00:05:17,000 Speaker 2: impressive enough that a billion, more than a billion gallons 98 00:05:17,040 --> 00:05:20,359 Speaker 2: of water is delivered every day to New Yorkers. Pretty great. 99 00:05:20,680 --> 00:05:23,440 Speaker 2: But the idea that you can just drink it straight 100 00:05:23,480 --> 00:05:28,640 Speaker 2: from the tap and it is ninety percent unfiltered, yeah, 101 00:05:28,720 --> 00:05:31,239 Speaker 2: that is a truly impressive feat. 102 00:05:31,600 --> 00:05:35,600 Speaker 1: Yeah. And by ninety percent unfiltered, we mean ninety percent 103 00:05:35,640 --> 00:05:38,960 Speaker 1: of the water is unfiltered and ten percent is filtered. 104 00:05:39,320 --> 00:05:41,240 Speaker 2: Right, And you might say, look, how can you just 105 00:05:41,520 --> 00:05:43,800 Speaker 2: filter ninety percent of the water. Well, it comes from 106 00:05:43,880 --> 00:05:46,880 Speaker 2: different places, that's right. So ninety percent of the water 107 00:05:47,000 --> 00:05:50,919 Speaker 2: comes from two places, two watersheds that combined are called 108 00:05:51,000 --> 00:05:55,400 Speaker 2: the Catskill Delaware Watershed or water system I think. And 109 00:05:55,440 --> 00:05:58,360 Speaker 2: then the other one from the Crow Croton I always 110 00:05:58,400 --> 00:06:01,359 Speaker 2: want to say Crow toWin. Yeah, but from the Croton Reservoir. 111 00:06:01,640 --> 00:06:04,360 Speaker 2: That ten percent is actually filtered. We'll get into all 112 00:06:04,400 --> 00:06:09,320 Speaker 2: of that. But ninety percent of New York's water is not. 113 00:06:09,480 --> 00:06:12,520 Speaker 2: It doesn't go through a filtering process. And that makes 114 00:06:12,560 --> 00:06:15,320 Speaker 2: New York one of only five major cities in the 115 00:06:15,400 --> 00:06:18,080 Speaker 2: United States to get a waiver from the EPA that 116 00:06:18,120 --> 00:06:22,320 Speaker 2: says your water is so deliciously pure and delightful that 117 00:06:22,480 --> 00:06:26,040 Speaker 2: you don't need to filter it. Almost every other city 118 00:06:26,080 --> 00:06:28,720 Speaker 2: has to have a filtering process before it gets delivered 119 00:06:28,720 --> 00:06:29,279 Speaker 2: to taps. 120 00:06:29,440 --> 00:06:33,360 Speaker 1: That's right. And the other four naturally Seattle, Portland, Oregon, 121 00:06:33,440 --> 00:06:36,920 Speaker 1: San Francisco. The one that's a bit of a surprise 122 00:06:37,000 --> 00:06:38,280 Speaker 1: is Boston, Massachusetts. 123 00:06:38,760 --> 00:06:44,719 Speaker 2: What's that's how surprising it is, Chuck, Yeah, that's right. 124 00:06:45,040 --> 00:06:47,159 Speaker 1: So let's talk a little bit about the history of 125 00:06:47,440 --> 00:06:50,400 Speaker 1: New York and their water, because back in the day, 126 00:06:50,440 --> 00:06:54,520 Speaker 1: we've always talked about how what a disgusting, disease ridden 127 00:06:55,160 --> 00:06:58,839 Speaker 1: poop and horse urine ridden place New York City was. 128 00:06:59,279 --> 00:07:02,560 Speaker 2: Yeah, supposedly there's a good twelve inches of horse manure 129 00:07:02,600 --> 00:07:06,279 Speaker 2: on the street at all times. They before they really 130 00:07:06,320 --> 00:07:07,600 Speaker 2: started cleaning their place up. 131 00:07:08,000 --> 00:07:09,000 Speaker 1: Yeah, it's pretty bad. 132 00:07:09,440 --> 00:07:12,680 Speaker 2: I think that was in the wind Criest Typhoid Marry episode, 133 00:07:12,680 --> 00:07:13,640 Speaker 2: which is a great. 134 00:07:13,440 --> 00:07:16,640 Speaker 1: One, another great New York episode. So if we're talking 135 00:07:16,680 --> 00:07:20,320 Speaker 1: New Amsterdam, pre New York City, they got water where 136 00:07:20,320 --> 00:07:24,520 Speaker 1: you would think from ponds and natural springs, underwater springs, 137 00:07:25,280 --> 00:07:28,200 Speaker 1: and they had a forty eight acre pond it's about 138 00:07:28,240 --> 00:07:32,560 Speaker 1: sixty feet deep in Tribeca. What is now Tribeca called 139 00:07:32,560 --> 00:07:35,880 Speaker 1: the Collect and also the little Collect that was just 140 00:07:36,240 --> 00:07:39,679 Speaker 1: south of there, And that name comes from the Dutch 141 00:07:39,680 --> 00:07:44,880 Speaker 1: word caulk, which means small body of water. And the 142 00:07:44,920 --> 00:07:46,560 Speaker 1: Collect was where they got their water for a long 143 00:07:46,600 --> 00:07:52,320 Speaker 1: time until the city let some tanners built a tannery 144 00:07:52,520 --> 00:07:55,360 Speaker 1: on the shores of the Collect, not smart New York, 145 00:07:55,400 --> 00:07:56,360 Speaker 1: which ruined everything. 146 00:07:57,000 --> 00:08:00,520 Speaker 2: Yeah, because it started to get polluted. They all were 147 00:08:00,560 --> 00:08:03,840 Speaker 2: able to drill wells and stuff around places where people 148 00:08:03,880 --> 00:08:07,080 Speaker 2: pooped and peed and then dump their poop and pee. 149 00:08:07,440 --> 00:08:10,160 Speaker 2: It was a dirty, dirty place because this is pre 150 00:08:10,360 --> 00:08:13,040 Speaker 2: germ theory, or at least around the time the germ 151 00:08:13,040 --> 00:08:16,640 Speaker 2: theory was being developed and people didn't understand it. And 152 00:08:16,680 --> 00:08:19,720 Speaker 2: I think it was our great stink episode where they 153 00:08:19,800 --> 00:08:24,400 Speaker 2: traced a colera epidemic to a public well, a public 154 00:08:24,440 --> 00:08:27,680 Speaker 2: water pump. John Snow, if I remember correctly did that. 155 00:08:27,960 --> 00:08:29,640 Speaker 2: And this would have been around the time that New 156 00:08:29,720 --> 00:08:33,120 Speaker 2: Yorkers were suffering from cholera epidemics, one of which took 157 00:08:33,120 --> 00:08:35,960 Speaker 2: place in I think the eighteen thirties, eighteen thirty two. 158 00:08:36,400 --> 00:08:39,319 Speaker 2: It killed thirty five hundred New Yorkers and that was 159 00:08:39,360 --> 00:08:43,080 Speaker 2: a substantial amount of the population at the time, and 160 00:08:43,120 --> 00:08:46,280 Speaker 2: another one hundred thousand New Yorkers had to flee just 161 00:08:46,320 --> 00:08:49,560 Speaker 2: to get away from this colera epidemic, and it was 162 00:08:49,600 --> 00:08:53,480 Speaker 2: because their sewage and their water was coexisting in very 163 00:08:53,559 --> 00:08:57,360 Speaker 2: unhealthy ways. So New York said, maybe we should try 164 00:08:57,400 --> 00:09:00,160 Speaker 2: something else. Let's look a little further outside the city 165 00:09:00,440 --> 00:09:02,199 Speaker 2: where we're dumping our waists and everything. See if we 166 00:09:02,240 --> 00:09:03,360 Speaker 2: can get our water from there. 167 00:09:03,760 --> 00:09:04,240 Speaker 1: And they did. 168 00:09:04,360 --> 00:09:07,040 Speaker 2: They built the Croton Reservoir. They damned the river, and 169 00:09:07,360 --> 00:09:10,280 Speaker 2: reservoir collected and they said, now we have some beautiful 170 00:09:10,280 --> 00:09:13,080 Speaker 2: pure water. We will never need to do anything again 171 00:09:13,320 --> 00:09:14,120 Speaker 2: to get our water. 172 00:09:15,120 --> 00:09:17,600 Speaker 1: That's right. Previous to that, though, in the eighteenth century, 173 00:09:17,600 --> 00:09:20,160 Speaker 1: they had these public pumps like you were talking about 174 00:09:20,760 --> 00:09:23,920 Speaker 1: on street corners, about every four blocks or so, a 175 00:09:23,960 --> 00:09:27,840 Speaker 1: big wooden pump where you would get your water from 176 00:09:28,760 --> 00:09:32,280 Speaker 1: underground streams and springs and stuff. But there were only 177 00:09:32,320 --> 00:09:35,480 Speaker 1: a few of these that actually delivered good water. A 178 00:09:35,480 --> 00:09:38,720 Speaker 1: lot of it was really brackish and gross tasting, and 179 00:09:39,240 --> 00:09:43,400 Speaker 1: Americans and early European settlers obviously loved their tea, and 180 00:09:43,679 --> 00:09:45,960 Speaker 1: so they marked this was almost like an early yelp 181 00:09:46,120 --> 00:09:50,000 Speaker 1: or whatever. They had these pumps that actually delivered like 182 00:09:50,040 --> 00:09:52,040 Speaker 1: the two or three good pumps in the city that 183 00:09:52,120 --> 00:09:54,280 Speaker 1: delivered good water labeled tea water. 184 00:09:54,160 --> 00:09:56,880 Speaker 2: Pumps, but like it was good enough to use for tea. 185 00:09:56,679 --> 00:10:00,040 Speaker 1: Good enough to use for making good tea, okay, so 186 00:10:00,040 --> 00:10:01,600 Speaker 1: they would go to these tea water pumps. You would 187 00:10:01,600 --> 00:10:04,679 Speaker 1: have to buy the water. The best one was apparently 188 00:10:04,760 --> 00:10:09,000 Speaker 1: at Chathaman Roosevelt. There was another and sort of what 189 00:10:09,040 --> 00:10:10,920 Speaker 1: the Lower east Side is today that was a good 190 00:10:11,160 --> 00:10:13,960 Speaker 1: tea water pump. And this worked out for a long 191 00:10:14,000 --> 00:10:19,840 Speaker 1: time until the collect and all this stuff. It started 192 00:10:19,880 --> 00:10:23,600 Speaker 1: to sort of get nasty and stinky, and so they 193 00:10:23,600 --> 00:10:27,600 Speaker 1: built a canal to channel that water into the river. 194 00:10:27,880 --> 00:10:29,040 Speaker 1: Like that, we got to get rid of it and 195 00:10:29,120 --> 00:10:32,480 Speaker 1: drain this thing. So they build this canal forty feet wide, 196 00:10:32,679 --> 00:10:35,040 Speaker 1: they channel it. Right after they finish it, this canal 197 00:10:35,120 --> 00:10:38,480 Speaker 1: begins to sink, and in eighteen twenty one it got 198 00:10:38,520 --> 00:10:41,319 Speaker 1: so bad. The smell was so bad that they eventually 199 00:10:41,360 --> 00:10:44,120 Speaker 1: just covered up the canal. And guess what that became. 200 00:10:46,160 --> 00:10:50,520 Speaker 2: I don't know, Central Park Canal Street. Oh, how about 201 00:10:50,559 --> 00:10:55,199 Speaker 2: that so stupid? I wasn't even in the right part 202 00:10:55,240 --> 00:10:55,720 Speaker 2: of the city. 203 00:10:55,840 --> 00:10:56,360 Speaker 1: That's all right. 204 00:10:56,600 --> 00:10:58,920 Speaker 2: We've even done an episode on Central Park and that 205 00:10:58,960 --> 00:11:02,240 Speaker 2: wouldn't it forget it? Yes, Canal Street obviously. 206 00:11:01,920 --> 00:11:03,840 Speaker 1: That's where Canal Street came from. That was literally a 207 00:11:03,840 --> 00:11:07,400 Speaker 1: canal and then eventually an underground sewage system under running 208 00:11:07,440 --> 00:11:11,000 Speaker 1: under Canal Street. Right, And there's another cool little tidbit 209 00:11:11,440 --> 00:11:13,160 Speaker 1: if you want like your little New York history, if 210 00:11:13,160 --> 00:11:14,880 Speaker 1: you like to walk around on subways and tell people 211 00:11:14,880 --> 00:11:18,679 Speaker 1: about cool things. Yeah, one of the first public reservoirs 212 00:11:18,679 --> 00:11:21,760 Speaker 1: in the city was dug by Aaron Burr and his 213 00:11:22,040 --> 00:11:26,360 Speaker 1: Manhattan Company, and that didn't work out. They transported it 214 00:11:26,400 --> 00:11:29,480 Speaker 1: through wooden logs as pipes bury beneath the city. 215 00:11:29,720 --> 00:11:33,000 Speaker 2: Somebody found a piece of that wooden log. It's in 216 00:11:33,040 --> 00:11:36,040 Speaker 2: one of the museums up there. Now, Oh no way, Yeah. 217 00:11:35,720 --> 00:11:38,840 Speaker 1: That is very cool. But the water didn't taste great 218 00:11:39,320 --> 00:11:43,000 Speaker 1: and it didn't work out for Aaron Burr, so he changed. 219 00:11:43,040 --> 00:11:45,200 Speaker 1: He still kept the Manhattan Company, but he got into 220 00:11:45,200 --> 00:11:48,400 Speaker 1: banking and the Manhattan Company became Chase Manhattan Bank. 221 00:11:48,840 --> 00:11:52,120 Speaker 2: I saw somewhere that that was his aim all along, 222 00:11:52,200 --> 00:11:55,200 Speaker 2: that the water thing was just basically a fleece to 223 00:11:55,280 --> 00:11:58,240 Speaker 2: raise money to found oh really, and that that's why 224 00:11:58,679 --> 00:12:02,280 Speaker 2: the water was so shoddy and the delivery was so shoddy. 225 00:12:02,320 --> 00:12:04,600 Speaker 2: But what they were selling was so bad supposedly the 226 00:12:04,640 --> 00:12:06,000 Speaker 2: horses wouldn't even drink. 227 00:12:05,800 --> 00:12:06,840 Speaker 1: It, So it's a scam. 228 00:12:06,960 --> 00:12:09,160 Speaker 2: It was basically a scam. Aaron Burr was not the 229 00:12:09,200 --> 00:12:13,880 Speaker 2: greatest historical American shot Alexander Hamilton. 230 00:12:14,240 --> 00:12:16,559 Speaker 1: I know that's enough right there, right. 231 00:12:16,480 --> 00:12:19,640 Speaker 2: And then also scammed a bunch of people out of 232 00:12:19,720 --> 00:12:24,080 Speaker 2: their water investment. That's right, because I mean, if you 233 00:12:24,080 --> 00:12:25,640 Speaker 2: want to invest in a bank, you want to invest 234 00:12:25,720 --> 00:12:27,120 Speaker 2: in a bank. If you want to invest in a 235 00:12:27,160 --> 00:12:29,360 Speaker 2: water outfit, you want to invest in a water outfit. 236 00:12:29,960 --> 00:12:31,960 Speaker 2: You want people to be above the boards with stuff 237 00:12:32,000 --> 00:12:32,480 Speaker 2: like that. 238 00:12:32,480 --> 00:12:34,320 Speaker 1: That's right above the dogs. 239 00:12:34,520 --> 00:12:35,400 Speaker 2: That's my tirade. 240 00:12:36,320 --> 00:12:39,119 Speaker 1: So you mentioned the Croton Dam and the Croton Reservoir. 241 00:12:39,520 --> 00:12:42,600 Speaker 1: I want to say crow atone as well. Yeah, that 242 00:12:42,720 --> 00:12:47,000 Speaker 1: became and that aqueduct became operational and things were okay, 243 00:12:47,600 --> 00:12:50,280 Speaker 1: but then a tragedy struck with the Great Fire of 244 00:12:50,320 --> 00:12:51,280 Speaker 1: eighteen thirty. 245 00:12:51,040 --> 00:12:54,040 Speaker 2: Five, Yes, which actually I guess that the Great Fire 246 00:12:54,080 --> 00:12:56,839 Speaker 2: took place right before the reservoir was opened, which is 247 00:12:56,880 --> 00:13:00,679 Speaker 2: why the greats are bad. Yeah. So in eighteen thirty five, 248 00:13:02,440 --> 00:13:05,880 Speaker 2: on a night in December, a warehouse caught fire and 249 00:13:05,960 --> 00:13:10,480 Speaker 2: it just leveled Lower Manhattan, like just destroyed something like 250 00:13:11,480 --> 00:13:16,000 Speaker 2: seventeen city blocks, fifty acres of the most densely populated 251 00:13:16,000 --> 00:13:19,840 Speaker 2: part of New York at the time, and luckily only 252 00:13:19,880 --> 00:13:24,640 Speaker 2: two people died. Was too many, but considering that it 253 00:13:24,679 --> 00:13:28,120 Speaker 2: was seventeen city blocks that got reduced to ash, that's 254 00:13:28,320 --> 00:13:32,000 Speaker 2: not bad actually, especially considering that the way that they 255 00:13:32,120 --> 00:13:35,800 Speaker 2: ended up fighting this fire was by setting buildings on 256 00:13:35,880 --> 00:13:38,760 Speaker 2: the perimeter on fire because they didn't have the amount 257 00:13:38,840 --> 00:13:39,960 Speaker 2: of water that they needed. 258 00:13:40,679 --> 00:13:43,040 Speaker 1: Yeah, the reason for that it was just sort of 259 00:13:43,040 --> 00:13:46,600 Speaker 1: really bad luck. They were two smaller fires that drained 260 00:13:46,640 --> 00:13:49,199 Speaker 1: our hour. Like I'm a New Yorker, listen to. 261 00:13:49,160 --> 00:13:51,560 Speaker 2: Me, you're an honorary New Yorker, I would guess. 262 00:13:51,880 --> 00:13:54,600 Speaker 1: It drained the cisterns, the reserve cisterns that they had, 263 00:13:55,200 --> 00:13:57,240 Speaker 1: and because of those two smaller fires, they didn't have 264 00:13:57,320 --> 00:13:59,679 Speaker 1: enough to fight the Great Fire. And the long and 265 00:13:59,720 --> 00:14:01,960 Speaker 1: short of all this, as New York said, we got 266 00:14:02,000 --> 00:14:04,440 Speaker 1: to really speed up this Croton Reservoir work. 267 00:14:04,920 --> 00:14:07,440 Speaker 2: Yep, and they did. And so the Croton Reservoir was 268 00:14:07,760 --> 00:14:10,400 Speaker 2: broad online in the middle of the nineteenth century, and 269 00:14:10,440 --> 00:14:14,839 Speaker 2: they had a big old parade and everything, and it 270 00:14:14,960 --> 00:14:20,080 Speaker 2: delivered something like ninety million gallons of delicious pure water 271 00:14:20,280 --> 00:14:24,040 Speaker 2: to New York in the middle of the nineteenth century. 272 00:14:24,040 --> 00:14:26,400 Speaker 2: It was a really big deal and it worked really 273 00:14:26,440 --> 00:14:29,360 Speaker 2: well for a very long time. But there was also 274 00:14:29,480 --> 00:14:34,479 Speaker 2: they built the murray Hill Reservoir so the Croton Reservoir 275 00:14:34,520 --> 00:14:37,080 Speaker 2: would be where the water collected upstate. And then they 276 00:14:37,080 --> 00:14:40,560 Speaker 2: built an aqueduct system which is still around in parts today, 277 00:14:40,760 --> 00:14:44,480 Speaker 2: an elevated aqueduct to what's called the murray Hill Reservoir, 278 00:14:44,520 --> 00:14:48,200 Speaker 2: which was a four acre above ground swimming pool. 279 00:14:48,360 --> 00:14:50,640 Speaker 1: Basically, it's pretty cool if you look at pictures. 280 00:14:50,840 --> 00:14:54,360 Speaker 2: Yeah, Yeah, it was like a real spot in the 281 00:14:54,400 --> 00:14:58,880 Speaker 2: city while it was around, I think something till eighteen 282 00:14:58,960 --> 00:15:01,040 Speaker 2: forty two to nineteen hu it was around, and people 283 00:15:01,120 --> 00:15:03,600 Speaker 2: used to take strolls around it and make paintings of 284 00:15:03,640 --> 00:15:05,520 Speaker 2: it and that kind of thing. And it is where 285 00:15:05,600 --> 00:15:08,600 Speaker 2: the New York Public Library is now today, where the 286 00:15:08,600 --> 00:15:12,360 Speaker 2: Ghostbusters did some of their early work. All right, right, 287 00:15:12,640 --> 00:15:16,640 Speaker 2: but it worked really well for you know, the time. 288 00:15:16,760 --> 00:15:18,760 Speaker 2: But then as New York grew and grew and grew, 289 00:15:18,800 --> 00:15:22,360 Speaker 2: it became very painfully obvious yet again that New York 290 00:15:22,360 --> 00:15:23,760 Speaker 2: had outgrown its water supply. 291 00:15:24,000 --> 00:15:27,360 Speaker 1: Yeah, they needed more water. Ninety million gallons a day 292 00:15:27,560 --> 00:15:32,400 Speaker 1: wasn't enough. And then what made matters worse was in 293 00:15:32,520 --> 00:15:36,000 Speaker 1: eighteen ninety eight, New York City officially made it a 294 00:15:36,040 --> 00:15:40,080 Speaker 1: declaration that we are now not just Lower Manhattan. Of course, 295 00:15:40,120 --> 00:15:42,440 Speaker 1: they didn't call Lower Manhattan at the time, right, that 296 00:15:42,560 --> 00:15:44,040 Speaker 1: was just sort of where the city ended. 297 00:15:44,280 --> 00:15:45,440 Speaker 2: They called it Manahattan. 298 00:15:45,600 --> 00:15:46,440 Speaker 1: Yeah, Manhattan. 299 00:15:46,800 --> 00:15:48,760 Speaker 2: I saw that episode, by the way, it was one 300 00:15:48,760 --> 00:15:52,320 Speaker 2: of the better ones ever, which one think of what 301 00:15:52,360 --> 00:15:54,720 Speaker 2: we do in the dark. Oh, that's right, where they 302 00:15:54,760 --> 00:15:57,360 Speaker 2: go to party in Manhattan Manahattan. 303 00:15:57,800 --> 00:16:01,920 Speaker 1: Yea, what we do in the shadows? Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, 304 00:16:02,920 --> 00:16:05,680 Speaker 1: I'm so stupid, that's all right. The Five Burrows were 305 00:16:05,680 --> 00:16:08,120 Speaker 1: included in eighteen nine to eight officially, so New York 306 00:16:09,560 --> 00:16:11,600 Speaker 1: and the water needed to get to the people was 307 00:16:11,600 --> 00:16:15,800 Speaker 1: officially grown to more than three million people by the 308 00:16:15,840 --> 00:16:18,440 Speaker 1: time the twentieth century turned. 309 00:16:18,640 --> 00:16:21,200 Speaker 2: Right, which is just precious today. Three million New Yorkers, 310 00:16:21,240 --> 00:16:23,840 Speaker 2: Oh my gosh, I really do. So they started to 311 00:16:23,840 --> 00:16:26,080 Speaker 2: look upstate again because they had hit upon like a 312 00:16:26,080 --> 00:16:31,040 Speaker 2: pretty good idea. The city is a cesspool. We need 313 00:16:31,080 --> 00:16:33,920 Speaker 2: our water from outside of this cesspool. And they started 314 00:16:33,920 --> 00:16:36,120 Speaker 2: looking up state. So this time they looked up to 315 00:16:36,160 --> 00:16:39,440 Speaker 2: the cat Skills and they found two watersheds, which we 316 00:16:39,480 --> 00:16:42,000 Speaker 2: did an episode on watersheds that I would love to forget, 317 00:16:42,040 --> 00:16:43,440 Speaker 2: but it came up just now. 318 00:16:43,600 --> 00:16:44,440 Speaker 1: Oh I thought it was good. 319 00:16:44,560 --> 00:16:47,440 Speaker 2: No, oh man, it was horrendous, was it? Yes? I 320 00:16:47,440 --> 00:16:48,840 Speaker 2: thought it was terrible and boring. 321 00:16:49,280 --> 00:16:50,440 Speaker 1: January twenty seventeen. 322 00:16:51,400 --> 00:16:53,000 Speaker 2: I don't remember when it came out. Like I said, 323 00:16:53,000 --> 00:16:54,560 Speaker 2: I tried to forget that it ever happened. 324 00:16:54,760 --> 00:16:55,600 Speaker 1: I thought it was pretty good. 325 00:16:55,920 --> 00:17:00,880 Speaker 2: But anyway, So a watershed is basically a specific topographical 326 00:17:00,920 --> 00:17:06,520 Speaker 2: air area where rain, snow, whatever precipitation falls down into 327 00:17:06,560 --> 00:17:11,800 Speaker 2: this area and is delivered to a specific creek, river stream, 328 00:17:12,040 --> 00:17:15,080 Speaker 2: something like that that eventually empties into like a lake 329 00:17:15,160 --> 00:17:18,160 Speaker 2: or reservoir or something like that. So there's two watersheds, 330 00:17:18,200 --> 00:17:22,240 Speaker 2: the Delaware and the Catskill Watershed that put together create 331 00:17:22,320 --> 00:17:27,879 Speaker 2: something like two thousand square miles of water catching goodness, 332 00:17:28,440 --> 00:17:31,600 Speaker 2: and it delivers it to a number of different reservoirs. 333 00:17:31,640 --> 00:17:33,960 Speaker 2: And that is now today where New York gets like 334 00:17:34,040 --> 00:17:35,280 Speaker 2: ninety percent of its water. 335 00:17:35,880 --> 00:17:37,840 Speaker 1: Yeah, so you know, obviously they had to dam up 336 00:17:37,920 --> 00:17:41,280 Speaker 1: rivers to create these reservoirs, and this all happened to 337 00:17:41,440 --> 00:17:44,359 Speaker 1: you in the early nineteen hundreds. And then finally they 338 00:17:44,359 --> 00:17:47,520 Speaker 1: were like, great, We've got all these reservoirs and the Catskills, 339 00:17:48,119 --> 00:17:50,640 Speaker 1: but let me remind you, we're on the lower east 340 00:17:50,640 --> 00:17:54,960 Speaker 1: side of Manhattan, surrounded by horse hearin and a lot 341 00:17:55,040 --> 00:17:57,359 Speaker 1: of it and poop. We need our fresh water. How 342 00:17:57,400 --> 00:18:01,639 Speaker 1: do we get it here? So in nineteen seventeen, the 343 00:18:01,680 --> 00:18:04,800 Speaker 1: engineers of New York City completed the ninety two mile 344 00:18:05,080 --> 00:18:10,960 Speaker 1: Catskill Aqueduct YEP, which is amazing. It's basically a big 345 00:18:11,600 --> 00:18:16,480 Speaker 1: concrete tunnel that sends water ninety two miles from the 346 00:18:16,480 --> 00:18:19,680 Speaker 1: Catskills down to New York. It's as wide as thirty 347 00:18:19,680 --> 00:18:23,280 Speaker 1: feet in some places. It is not a tunnel the 348 00:18:23,520 --> 00:18:26,000 Speaker 1: entire length, as we will see here in a minute. 349 00:18:26,240 --> 00:18:29,160 Speaker 1: Not a continuous tunnel. I'm not sure what that means. 350 00:18:29,200 --> 00:18:30,200 Speaker 1: What is it just like open. 351 00:18:31,600 --> 00:18:34,639 Speaker 2: There's parts of it that aren't technically a tunnel in 352 00:18:34,680 --> 00:18:37,440 Speaker 2: that it's a covered trench. Okay, they cut a trench 353 00:18:37,480 --> 00:18:39,200 Speaker 2: and then they covered it back up, which I don't 354 00:18:39,240 --> 00:18:41,240 Speaker 2: know how you do that. But it's not technically a 355 00:18:41,280 --> 00:18:43,280 Speaker 2: tunnel like a circle or tube. 356 00:18:44,119 --> 00:18:46,160 Speaker 1: Interesting, and here is to me one of the facts 357 00:18:46,200 --> 00:18:48,760 Speaker 1: of the show. You get this water down there in 358 00:18:48,800 --> 00:18:52,000 Speaker 1: the aqueduct and you get to the Hudson River, and 359 00:18:52,040 --> 00:18:53,800 Speaker 1: what are you gonna do? You gotta go under it. 360 00:18:54,960 --> 00:18:57,240 Speaker 2: Right to me, it'd just be like just pump it 361 00:18:57,280 --> 00:18:59,680 Speaker 2: in the Hudson and hope it comes out the other side. 362 00:19:00,640 --> 00:19:02,879 Speaker 2: But then I would have gotten fired immediately when night 363 00:19:03,760 --> 00:19:06,479 Speaker 2: he's no engineer. No, he's a sham. 364 00:19:06,600 --> 00:19:11,200 Speaker 1: He's a rapscallion. So it gets to the Hudson River 365 00:19:11,320 --> 00:19:14,760 Speaker 1: and then it goes way down into the ground, about 366 00:19:14,840 --> 00:19:18,560 Speaker 1: eleven hundred feet below sea level, and then climbs back 367 00:19:18,600 --> 00:19:22,080 Speaker 1: up the other side. And it does all this via gravity. 368 00:19:22,560 --> 00:19:25,920 Speaker 2: Yes, and they did that not just to show off, 369 00:19:26,000 --> 00:19:28,960 Speaker 2: but because they decided. I read this awesome, you know 370 00:19:29,000 --> 00:19:32,040 Speaker 2: how I'm always like read the contemporary articles. I read 371 00:19:32,040 --> 00:19:34,600 Speaker 2: one from nineteen oh seven where they were talking about 372 00:19:34,640 --> 00:19:37,600 Speaker 2: the construction of the aqueduct and they said that the 373 00:19:37,720 --> 00:19:40,840 Speaker 2: reason why they were going down that far is because 374 00:19:40,880 --> 00:19:44,400 Speaker 2: they wanted to hit bedrock because it would be fissure free, 375 00:19:44,440 --> 00:19:47,080 Speaker 2: meaning there would be no leakage, and they could just 376 00:19:47,119 --> 00:19:49,199 Speaker 2: pump the water through the hole that they bored in 377 00:19:49,280 --> 00:19:51,240 Speaker 2: the bedrock. Well, they thought the bedrock was going to 378 00:19:51,280 --> 00:19:54,000 Speaker 2: be about five hundred feet down, and by nineteen oh 379 00:19:54,040 --> 00:19:57,040 Speaker 2: seven when they wrote the Scientific American article, they'd reached 380 00:19:57,040 --> 00:19:59,440 Speaker 2: like seven hundred feet still hadn't hit it. It ended 381 00:19:59,480 --> 00:20:03,000 Speaker 2: up being like eleven hundred feet below sea level where 382 00:20:03,000 --> 00:20:05,200 Speaker 2: they finally hit bedrock. And that's why they had to 383 00:20:05,280 --> 00:20:08,520 Speaker 2: drill so far down. And they drilled a tunnel, a 384 00:20:08,640 --> 00:20:15,440 Speaker 2: vertical shaft from the from the Hudson down to that tunnel, 385 00:20:15,560 --> 00:20:18,679 Speaker 2: and they built like a tube to pressurize it. So 386 00:20:18,760 --> 00:20:22,720 Speaker 2: the water eleven hundred feet under the Hudson is at 387 00:20:22,760 --> 00:20:26,520 Speaker 2: like fifteen tons per square foot of pressure, which also helps. 388 00:20:26,800 --> 00:20:28,760 Speaker 2: But the fact that there's no pumps or anything, it's 389 00:20:28,800 --> 00:20:30,399 Speaker 2: all gravity and pressure driven. 390 00:20:30,920 --> 00:20:34,280 Speaker 1: Yes, And sadly though, that story has a sad ending 391 00:20:34,320 --> 00:20:38,159 Speaker 1: because it took so long that their fissure free and 392 00:20:38,440 --> 00:20:41,800 Speaker 1: three T shirts were all rendered useless. 393 00:20:42,200 --> 00:20:47,920 Speaker 2: What No, I don't know that it's a great joke. 394 00:20:48,359 --> 00:20:50,640 Speaker 2: I'm gonna go back and listen to it and I'll 395 00:20:50,640 --> 00:20:55,000 Speaker 2: probably think it's hilarious, So compliments on it in advance. 396 00:20:56,160 --> 00:20:58,360 Speaker 1: Oh man, that was a quality joke. 397 00:20:59,560 --> 00:21:03,720 Speaker 2: Three gotcha? Okay, sure, sure, yeah, yeah, yeah, I gotcha, 398 00:21:03,880 --> 00:21:06,320 Speaker 2: All right, I got you. We're all together. Now, Okay, 399 00:21:06,359 --> 00:21:07,320 Speaker 2: that is a pretty good joke. 400 00:21:08,440 --> 00:21:11,399 Speaker 1: Gee. Should we take a break after that? Yeah, all right, 401 00:21:11,440 --> 00:21:13,399 Speaker 1: let's take a break. We'll talk a little bit more 402 00:21:13,400 --> 00:21:15,560 Speaker 1: about this so called aqueduct right after this. 403 00:21:33,800 --> 00:21:42,600 Speaker 3: Stuff you should know, Josh, and shuck stuff you should know. 404 00:21:54,240 --> 00:21:57,960 Speaker 2: Okay, Chuck. So we've got the Catskill Aqueduct delivering water. 405 00:21:59,280 --> 00:22:04,639 Speaker 2: There's another one in two called the Delaware Aqueduct. And 406 00:22:04,680 --> 00:22:06,720 Speaker 2: this one actually is like a genuine tunnel. 407 00:22:06,840 --> 00:22:10,800 Speaker 1: Yes, it's eighty five miles, completed in forty four. I'm 408 00:22:10,800 --> 00:22:13,600 Speaker 1: not gonna make a T shirt joke about that. And 409 00:22:13,880 --> 00:22:17,720 Speaker 1: it is still the longest continuous tunnel in the world 410 00:22:18,680 --> 00:22:21,520 Speaker 1: at eighty five miles. And they did this all, you know, 411 00:22:22,160 --> 00:22:25,719 Speaker 1: just this digging process is amazing in and of itself, 412 00:22:25,760 --> 00:22:30,200 Speaker 1: digging these tunnels and these trenches with steam shovels and 413 00:22:30,240 --> 00:22:33,280 Speaker 1: pouring the concrete tunnel, which I was like, how do 414 00:22:33,280 --> 00:22:35,639 Speaker 1: you do that? Even, Yeah, you do the bottom half 415 00:22:36,040 --> 00:22:37,800 Speaker 1: let it set, and then you do the top half 416 00:22:38,280 --> 00:22:41,040 Speaker 1: and let that set. So they were like Charles Bronson 417 00:22:41,040 --> 00:22:43,520 Speaker 1: in The Great Escape. They were digging tunnels. 418 00:22:43,720 --> 00:22:46,440 Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean we're talking like dynamite and stuff like that. 419 00:22:46,520 --> 00:22:48,639 Speaker 2: Like they really did it the old school way to 420 00:22:48,640 --> 00:22:51,200 Speaker 2: build these aqueducts, and they're still in use today, so 421 00:22:51,359 --> 00:22:55,320 Speaker 2: much so that there's three tunnels. Tunnel number one and 422 00:22:55,359 --> 00:22:58,560 Speaker 2: tunnel number two have been in operation since nineteen seventeen 423 00:22:58,600 --> 00:23:03,440 Speaker 2: and nineteen thirty six. They've never stopped operating. They've never 424 00:23:03,520 --> 00:23:07,000 Speaker 2: been stopped up and drained and inspected in over one 425 00:23:07,080 --> 00:23:09,280 Speaker 2: hundred years. For tunnel number one. 426 00:23:09,520 --> 00:23:12,200 Speaker 1: Yeah, I think the current memo going around is I'm 427 00:23:12,200 --> 00:23:12,919 Speaker 1: sure it's fine. 428 00:23:13,760 --> 00:23:17,160 Speaker 2: Well, so they're building tunnel number three, and they decided 429 00:23:17,160 --> 00:23:20,000 Speaker 2: to start building tunnel number three nineteen fifty four. They 430 00:23:20,040 --> 00:23:23,080 Speaker 2: actually started in nineteen seventy. They are still not done 431 00:23:23,080 --> 00:23:24,080 Speaker 2: with tunnel number three. 432 00:23:24,280 --> 00:23:24,960 Speaker 1: It's amazing. 433 00:23:25,200 --> 00:23:27,800 Speaker 2: Parts of it are online. And when it does fully 434 00:23:27,800 --> 00:23:31,280 Speaker 2: come online, tunnel number three will have a capacity enough 435 00:23:31,400 --> 00:23:34,800 Speaker 2: so that they can individually stop and drain and inspect 436 00:23:34,840 --> 00:23:38,040 Speaker 2: and repair tunnel number one and then eventually tunnel number two. 437 00:23:38,240 --> 00:23:41,520 Speaker 2: So the tunnel number three, Yeah, tunnel number three will 438 00:23:41,600 --> 00:23:44,240 Speaker 2: save the other two. And it's good that they're doing 439 00:23:44,280 --> 00:23:46,000 Speaker 2: it now. But I saw that it's going to be 440 00:23:46,119 --> 00:23:48,840 Speaker 2: fully operational in twenty twenty one. 441 00:23:48,960 --> 00:23:51,000 Speaker 1: They think, oh wow, so we're almost there. 442 00:23:51,480 --> 00:23:52,240 Speaker 2: Almost man. 443 00:23:52,520 --> 00:23:57,320 Speaker 1: Yeah, it's the New York's longest running municipal project, five 444 00:23:57,359 --> 00:24:00,600 Speaker 1: billion dollar price tag so far and count I guess. 445 00:24:01,200 --> 00:24:04,159 Speaker 1: And then those three tunnels or two, and however many 446 00:24:04,640 --> 00:24:09,720 Speaker 1: parts of three are working deliver one point three gallons 447 00:24:09,760 --> 00:24:14,800 Speaker 1: of water a day through a network of mainz and 448 00:24:15,200 --> 00:24:21,360 Speaker 1: then individual pipes leading to apartments and homes and businesses 449 00:24:22,080 --> 00:24:25,200 Speaker 1: and skyscrapers, and all of those pipes, if you total 450 00:24:25,240 --> 00:24:29,119 Speaker 1: them up, would lay out about seven thousand miles. 451 00:24:29,480 --> 00:24:32,080 Speaker 2: That's pretty impressive. I would also like to point out 452 00:24:32,160 --> 00:24:34,600 Speaker 2: that I think you meant one point three billion gallons? 453 00:24:34,640 --> 00:24:39,120 Speaker 2: Would I say one point three gallons? Yeah? Really, which 454 00:24:39,160 --> 00:24:41,600 Speaker 2: would be hilarious that they went to all this trouble, 455 00:24:41,880 --> 00:24:44,680 Speaker 2: spend all this money, and they're like, we can crank 456 00:24:44,720 --> 00:24:48,720 Speaker 2: out one three gallons a day, New York. Gather around 457 00:24:48,720 --> 00:24:49,520 Speaker 2: and get your water. 458 00:24:50,040 --> 00:24:52,080 Speaker 1: I was still thinking about my t shirt joke. 459 00:24:53,520 --> 00:24:54,240 Speaker 2: It's a good joke. 460 00:24:54,800 --> 00:24:57,240 Speaker 1: And here's the kicker too. Another great fact of the show. 461 00:24:57,280 --> 00:25:00,240 Speaker 1: Only five percent of all of the city's water lies 462 00:25:00,320 --> 00:25:04,359 Speaker 1: on pumps to get to its final destination, which it 463 00:25:04,400 --> 00:25:05,160 Speaker 1: means your tap. 464 00:25:05,560 --> 00:25:08,080 Speaker 2: It's pretty awesome. Yeah, So that means that it can't 465 00:25:08,160 --> 00:25:11,080 Speaker 2: break down or if something does happen. They still have 466 00:25:11,240 --> 00:25:14,520 Speaker 2: things like gravity to help things along. It's great. So 467 00:25:15,440 --> 00:25:20,359 Speaker 2: the reason why the EPA gave New York a waiver 468 00:25:20,760 --> 00:25:23,280 Speaker 2: and said you don't have to filter the water coming 469 00:25:23,320 --> 00:25:27,560 Speaker 2: from the Catskill and the Delaware watersheds is because. 470 00:25:27,160 --> 00:25:30,399 Speaker 1: Because Giuliani greased the palms of the EPA. 471 00:25:30,359 --> 00:25:34,359 Speaker 2: Right exactly, it started well, it started out as so pure, 472 00:25:34,400 --> 00:25:38,960 Speaker 2: in pristine and just great water to begin with. But 473 00:25:39,040 --> 00:25:41,639 Speaker 2: they have taken steps along the way to ensure that 474 00:25:41,720 --> 00:25:44,040 Speaker 2: it stayed that way. Because one of the things that 475 00:25:44,119 --> 00:25:48,080 Speaker 2: happened with the Croton Reservoir is development was allowed to 476 00:25:48,080 --> 00:25:52,280 Speaker 2: grow up around it, Agriculture was allowed to pollute it. 477 00:25:52,280 --> 00:25:55,719 Speaker 2: It just got it turned. And after that, the EPA, 478 00:25:55,760 --> 00:25:58,200 Speaker 2: I think in the nineties the late nineties, said, yep, 479 00:25:59,240 --> 00:26:01,439 Speaker 2: you guys have to are't filtering that water. It's no 480 00:26:01,480 --> 00:26:06,400 Speaker 2: longer unfilterable. It's it's not drinkable as is, So they 481 00:26:06,440 --> 00:26:08,560 Speaker 2: had to start filtering. It used to be one hundred 482 00:26:08,560 --> 00:26:12,919 Speaker 2: percent of New York's water was unfiltered that Croton Reservoir. 483 00:26:13,080 --> 00:26:16,720 Speaker 2: Now is ten percent that is filtered. But so they 484 00:26:17,000 --> 00:26:19,600 Speaker 2: learned a valuable lesson from that, and now they're very 485 00:26:19,640 --> 00:26:25,520 Speaker 2: proactive and keeping the Delaware and Catskill reservoir or watershed 486 00:26:25,560 --> 00:26:30,960 Speaker 2: water from becoming corrupted by things like development and agriculture. 487 00:26:31,359 --> 00:26:34,119 Speaker 1: Yeah, and by you know, the lesson they learned is money, 488 00:26:34,119 --> 00:26:36,240 Speaker 1: because you might be thinking, like, what's the big deal, 489 00:26:36,240 --> 00:26:38,399 Speaker 1: why don't they just filter all of it. It's a 490 00:26:38,400 --> 00:26:40,479 Speaker 1: lot cheaper to take care of the land and make 491 00:26:40,520 --> 00:26:43,360 Speaker 1: sure you never have to filter it than to install 492 00:26:43,400 --> 00:26:44,280 Speaker 1: a filtering plant. 493 00:26:44,840 --> 00:26:47,560 Speaker 2: Yeah, because they estimate that a filtering plant would cost 494 00:26:47,600 --> 00:26:50,159 Speaker 2: something like ten billion dollars up front and then one 495 00:26:50,240 --> 00:26:53,320 Speaker 2: hundred million dollars a year to operate. New York is 496 00:26:53,480 --> 00:26:57,240 Speaker 2: spending something like one billion dollars every several years to 497 00:26:57,320 --> 00:27:01,720 Speaker 2: protect the Delaware the Catskill water sheds. So it is 498 00:27:01,760 --> 00:27:04,919 Speaker 2: an enormous investment. But also it's great because it's natural 499 00:27:04,960 --> 00:27:06,119 Speaker 2: water that's unfiltered. 500 00:27:06,720 --> 00:27:08,399 Speaker 1: Yeah. And you know, they do this in a number 501 00:27:08,400 --> 00:27:12,080 Speaker 1: of ways, aside from buying up forty percent of the land, 502 00:27:12,160 --> 00:27:14,760 Speaker 1: which was a good move and making sure nothing happens 503 00:27:14,800 --> 00:27:15,040 Speaker 1: to it. 504 00:27:15,480 --> 00:27:18,880 Speaker 2: Yep. So New York City owns a lot of land upstate. 505 00:27:19,040 --> 00:27:22,920 Speaker 2: Oh yeah to stef Yi, Yeah, forty percent. Yeah, it's 506 00:27:22,920 --> 00:27:26,119 Speaker 2: a lot of land, not forty percent of New York 507 00:27:26,160 --> 00:27:28,600 Speaker 2: State but forty percent of the property around the Catskill 508 00:27:28,680 --> 00:27:32,280 Speaker 2: and Delaware water sheds. They also did things like, hey, 509 00:27:32,359 --> 00:27:35,879 Speaker 2: let's look at all the wastewater treatment facilities upstream, and 510 00:27:35,960 --> 00:27:39,440 Speaker 2: let's invest a lot of money in upgrading those. Hey all, 511 00:27:39,480 --> 00:27:42,200 Speaker 2: you people that have septic tanks that are falling apart, 512 00:27:42,720 --> 00:27:45,880 Speaker 2: that matter, So we're going to reimburse you fifty two 513 00:27:45,960 --> 00:27:48,200 Speaker 2: hundred homeowners. Yeah that's impressive. 514 00:27:48,359 --> 00:27:50,159 Speaker 1: Yeah, install a new septic tank, and we're going to 515 00:27:50,240 --> 00:27:50,560 Speaker 1: pay for it. 516 00:27:50,960 --> 00:27:51,160 Speaker 2: Yep. 517 00:27:51,800 --> 00:27:55,920 Speaker 1: They remove dead trees, they replace those with little sapling 518 00:27:55,960 --> 00:27:59,640 Speaker 1: trees who apparently have roots that are young and can 519 00:27:59,680 --> 00:28:02,480 Speaker 1: abs or a lot of harmful nutrients from that rain water. 520 00:28:03,680 --> 00:28:06,600 Speaker 1: And here's another good fact of the show. Some of 521 00:28:06,640 --> 00:28:10,480 Speaker 1: the water from those reservoirs or from that watershed can 522 00:28:10,560 --> 00:28:13,040 Speaker 1: take up to a full year to make its way 523 00:28:13,080 --> 00:28:14,879 Speaker 1: down to the tap that you're drinking out of. 524 00:28:15,119 --> 00:28:16,959 Speaker 2: That's a good one. I like that one. It's almost 525 00:28:17,000 --> 00:28:19,040 Speaker 2: like the how long it takes sunlight to reach us? 526 00:28:19,080 --> 00:28:21,320 Speaker 1: And you were gonna say that it's the same thing. 527 00:28:21,400 --> 00:28:22,040 Speaker 1: It's the same thing. 528 00:28:22,720 --> 00:28:25,280 Speaker 2: They also did you talk about farmers. 529 00:28:25,800 --> 00:28:27,480 Speaker 1: The only difference between those stats is you don't have 530 00:28:27,520 --> 00:28:30,400 Speaker 1: to explain what a photon is you can just say water. 531 00:28:30,800 --> 00:28:34,159 Speaker 2: It's a tiny packet of light. It's the carrier of 532 00:28:34,200 --> 00:28:35,680 Speaker 2: electromagnetic and it's right. 533 00:28:36,280 --> 00:28:37,439 Speaker 1: What did you ask right before that? 534 00:28:37,480 --> 00:28:39,680 Speaker 2: Did you talk about the farmers how they train farmers 535 00:28:40,000 --> 00:28:43,840 Speaker 2: upstate too? I did not, So they say, hey, you hicks, 536 00:28:44,320 --> 00:28:47,680 Speaker 2: you're gonna learn these techniques, man to I'm just kidding. 537 00:28:47,720 --> 00:28:50,040 Speaker 2: I love farmers. I would actually, as a matter of fact, Chuck, 538 00:28:50,240 --> 00:28:55,520 Speaker 2: when I retire, I really really want like a small 539 00:28:56,000 --> 00:28:59,120 Speaker 2: working farm. Oh yeah, very small, Like what do you want, 540 00:28:59,400 --> 00:29:00,880 Speaker 2: like a tenth of an acre? Small? 541 00:29:01,240 --> 00:29:02,840 Speaker 1: No? No, what kind of stuff do you want to farm? 542 00:29:02,880 --> 00:29:03,560 Speaker 1: What do you want on it? 543 00:29:04,280 --> 00:29:07,440 Speaker 2: Oh? I don't care? Yeah, oh yeah, some animals, but 544 00:29:07,840 --> 00:29:11,760 Speaker 2: just you know, having pigs around, not to eat or milk, 545 00:29:12,200 --> 00:29:19,000 Speaker 2: but to like basically but to like to churen up 546 00:29:19,080 --> 00:29:22,160 Speaker 2: like a field so that I can plan it the 547 00:29:22,200 --> 00:29:24,000 Speaker 2: next year and move the pigs to the next part 548 00:29:24,080 --> 00:29:26,479 Speaker 2: of the land. That kind of stuff. For chickens to 549 00:29:26,520 --> 00:29:28,479 Speaker 2: just walk around and eat their eggs and things like that. 550 00:29:28,840 --> 00:29:31,360 Speaker 1: You want some chickens, some pigs, you want some probably 551 00:29:31,400 --> 00:29:33,120 Speaker 1: a couple of goats. A couple of goats. You want 552 00:29:33,160 --> 00:29:36,600 Speaker 1: some planting you want to farm, some plants and vegetables. 553 00:29:36,320 --> 00:29:38,840 Speaker 2: Sure, yeah, but mainly just to have something to do, 554 00:29:39,040 --> 00:29:42,600 Speaker 2: like with the earth. So I was one hundred million 555 00:29:42,680 --> 00:29:45,760 Speaker 2: percent teasing when when I said that New York was 556 00:29:45,760 --> 00:29:48,280 Speaker 2: calling the farmers hecks. New York probably did call the 557 00:29:48,320 --> 00:29:51,320 Speaker 2: farmer's hicks. But I wasn't condoning that. I was just 558 00:29:51,320 --> 00:29:52,000 Speaker 2: making a joke. 559 00:29:52,280 --> 00:29:53,840 Speaker 1: Right, you're the guy who wants a tenth of an 560 00:29:53,840 --> 00:29:56,200 Speaker 1: acre one day to do something on that. You're not sure. 561 00:29:56,280 --> 00:29:58,320 Speaker 2: Those pigs are gonna be Like, this is some pretty 562 00:29:58,360 --> 00:30:00,760 Speaker 2: tight quarters around here. Oh you know what else? I 563 00:30:00,760 --> 00:30:02,280 Speaker 2: would do what? And I would need more of a 564 00:30:02,360 --> 00:30:03,960 Speaker 2: tenth more than a tenth of an acre for this? 565 00:30:04,240 --> 00:30:07,120 Speaker 2: Raise bees. That is where I will eventually raise bees. 566 00:30:07,400 --> 00:30:08,560 Speaker 2: It's on Josh's farm. 567 00:30:08,720 --> 00:30:13,440 Speaker 1: Well, brother, you better get some land soon because it's leaving. 568 00:30:14,360 --> 00:30:17,800 Speaker 1: At a land is leaving, Yeah, I mean it's people 569 00:30:17,800 --> 00:30:21,200 Speaker 1: are buying land. There's I remember my parents looking at 570 00:30:21,240 --> 00:30:23,520 Speaker 1: land when I was like ten years old, and they 571 00:30:23,520 --> 00:30:24,200 Speaker 1: didn't buy it. 572 00:30:25,000 --> 00:30:26,840 Speaker 2: They say it's leaving, and it's. 573 00:30:26,640 --> 00:30:28,360 Speaker 1: A different deal. Now. It's a lot harder to find 574 00:30:28,400 --> 00:30:31,480 Speaker 1: the land that you want. You know, people bought it 575 00:30:31,520 --> 00:30:31,960 Speaker 1: all up. 576 00:30:32,800 --> 00:30:34,640 Speaker 2: I know you can still get it, but you got 577 00:30:34,680 --> 00:30:35,760 Speaker 2: to pay through the nose for. 578 00:30:35,680 --> 00:30:37,400 Speaker 1: It, yeah, or it's up to them if they want 579 00:30:37,400 --> 00:30:39,440 Speaker 1: to sell it or not. You know, sure we're getting 580 00:30:39,480 --> 00:30:41,200 Speaker 1: second rate, we're getting sloppy seconds. 581 00:30:42,080 --> 00:30:45,920 Speaker 2: Oh god, oh man, that's gonna be one of those 582 00:30:45,960 --> 00:30:48,320 Speaker 2: things that, like our younger listeners is going to be 583 00:30:48,320 --> 00:30:50,440 Speaker 2: in college smoking pot in a dorm room and it'll 584 00:30:50,440 --> 00:30:52,880 Speaker 2: just hit them what you just said, like fifteen years on. 585 00:30:53,600 --> 00:30:58,800 Speaker 1: Oh goodness. So you mentioned the croat and watershed needs 586 00:30:58,840 --> 00:31:03,000 Speaker 1: the filtering and they're trying to avoid that at all 587 00:31:03,040 --> 00:31:07,320 Speaker 1: costs with the other watersheds. But the croat and water 588 00:31:07,360 --> 00:31:10,840 Speaker 1: supply when they built this filtering system. It costs three 589 00:31:10,840 --> 00:31:12,960 Speaker 1: point two billion dollars and it's under a golf course 590 00:31:12,960 --> 00:31:14,000 Speaker 1: in New Jersey. 591 00:31:14,240 --> 00:31:17,440 Speaker 2: Which is so appropriate. That's where the tainted water is 592 00:31:18,160 --> 00:31:22,040 Speaker 2: under a golf course in Jersey and Bedminster perhaps sure, 593 00:31:22,160 --> 00:31:24,000 Speaker 2: I don't know what that is, but it sounds right. 594 00:31:24,480 --> 00:31:25,720 Speaker 1: Oh, some people will get that one. 595 00:31:27,920 --> 00:31:30,160 Speaker 2: New York's like, hey, you Hicks, build a golf course 596 00:31:30,200 --> 00:31:34,040 Speaker 2: over this. New York just calls everybody else Hicks. And 597 00:31:34,120 --> 00:31:35,000 Speaker 2: that's right. They do. 598 00:31:35,120 --> 00:31:37,240 Speaker 1: When we can fly in, do they welcome Hicks? 599 00:31:39,120 --> 00:31:42,600 Speaker 2: So have we taken our second break yet. 600 00:31:42,440 --> 00:31:44,040 Speaker 1: No, we probably should though. This is a good time. 601 00:31:44,280 --> 00:31:45,960 Speaker 2: Okay, We're going to take another break, and we're going 602 00:31:46,040 --> 00:31:48,320 Speaker 2: to come back and explain what New York does do 603 00:31:48,480 --> 00:31:50,720 Speaker 2: to its water and whether or not it is a 604 00:31:50,840 --> 00:32:20,320 Speaker 2: secret ingredient in bagels and pizza. 605 00:32:11,640 --> 00:32:32,160 Speaker 3: Stuff. You should know, Josh and shuck stuff. You should know, all. 606 00:32:32,200 --> 00:32:35,120 Speaker 2: Right, Chuck. So one thing that you're gonna want to say. 607 00:32:35,200 --> 00:32:36,959 Speaker 2: If you're a New Yorker and you're boasting about your 608 00:32:36,960 --> 00:32:39,560 Speaker 2: tap water, there are some things you should know. Number one, 609 00:32:39,560 --> 00:32:43,040 Speaker 2: it's chlorinated. Number two, it's been run through a UV filter. 610 00:32:43,520 --> 00:32:46,720 Speaker 2: Even if it hasn't been filtered, filtered, there's still things 611 00:32:46,720 --> 00:32:48,480 Speaker 2: that are done to it. It's not like it's coming 612 00:32:48,840 --> 00:32:50,840 Speaker 2: straight out of the cat skills into your tap. 613 00:32:51,360 --> 00:32:54,320 Speaker 1: Yeah, they take it very seriously. Obviously. Here's a good 614 00:32:54,360 --> 00:32:57,480 Speaker 1: stat In one year, there are more than fifteen thousand 615 00:32:57,560 --> 00:33:01,880 Speaker 1: water samples taken an analy at the source. So this 616 00:33:01,960 --> 00:33:07,840 Speaker 1: is upstream. They have AI, well not AI or is 617 00:33:07,840 --> 00:33:08,280 Speaker 1: it AI? 618 00:33:08,840 --> 00:33:11,040 Speaker 2: There's AI involved somehow? There always is. 619 00:33:11,160 --> 00:33:13,320 Speaker 1: I always ask if it's AI. Want to I always 620 00:33:13,320 --> 00:33:15,920 Speaker 1: ask you? Because you know, sure, I know. Thanks to 621 00:33:16,160 --> 00:33:17,520 Speaker 1: the end of the World with Josh Clark. 622 00:33:17,880 --> 00:33:19,400 Speaker 2: Oh thanks for the plug. 623 00:33:19,320 --> 00:33:23,720 Speaker 1: Still available on iTunes, the iHeart podcast app or wherever 624 00:33:23,720 --> 00:33:24,680 Speaker 1: you find your podcast. 625 00:33:25,080 --> 00:33:27,640 Speaker 2: Wow, that wasn't just a plug, that was an AD. 626 00:33:28,400 --> 00:33:32,600 Speaker 1: So they have these robotic buoys that monitor the Kensico Reservoir, 627 00:33:33,360 --> 00:33:35,440 Speaker 1: one of the reservoirs that feeds down into New York. 628 00:33:36,040 --> 00:33:40,640 Speaker 1: And these things take one point nine million measurements a 629 00:33:40,760 --> 00:33:46,440 Speaker 1: year and wirelessly transmit that back to the Department of 630 00:33:46,560 --> 00:33:48,440 Speaker 1: Environmental Protection in New York. 631 00:33:48,880 --> 00:33:51,760 Speaker 2: Yeah, which is pretty awesome. And they had a booy before, 632 00:33:51,840 --> 00:33:54,120 Speaker 2: but they had to remove it in winter because ice 633 00:33:54,120 --> 00:33:57,440 Speaker 2: would mess with it, and this new one apparently is 634 00:33:57,960 --> 00:33:59,400 Speaker 2: ice loving. 635 00:33:59,800 --> 00:34:00,240 Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah. 636 00:34:00,800 --> 00:34:04,640 Speaker 2: Yeah. They also if you walk down the street, there's 637 00:34:04,680 --> 00:34:10,040 Speaker 2: something like thirteen hundred, no sixty five, nine hundred and 638 00:34:10,080 --> 00:34:13,560 Speaker 2: sixty five little gray boxes that if you could open 639 00:34:13,640 --> 00:34:16,400 Speaker 2: up you would find a little sink and a faucet. 640 00:34:16,480 --> 00:34:21,240 Speaker 2: It's adorable, maybe a little sample size of loxatain soap. 641 00:34:22,040 --> 00:34:27,040 Speaker 2: And that's a water sampling station, it says nydep Department 642 00:34:27,040 --> 00:34:30,560 Speaker 2: of Environmental Protection, and scientists walk up to these things, 643 00:34:30,640 --> 00:34:33,480 Speaker 2: unlock them and take samples and test for all sorts 644 00:34:33,480 --> 00:34:37,120 Speaker 2: of different things to make sure that the water getting 645 00:34:37,160 --> 00:34:39,120 Speaker 2: to New York is good. 646 00:34:39,400 --> 00:34:41,919 Speaker 1: Yeah, it says more than that. It says New York 647 00:34:42,160 --> 00:34:44,640 Speaker 1: City Drinking Water Sampling Station on the front of it. 648 00:34:45,080 --> 00:34:47,560 Speaker 2: Oh wow, they really they really spell it out. Yeah, 649 00:34:47,560 --> 00:34:51,160 Speaker 2: I said Fisher free and O three stamped on. 650 00:34:51,280 --> 00:34:56,160 Speaker 1: There, so that you know they're testing. They take thirteen 651 00:34:56,239 --> 00:34:58,440 Speaker 1: hundred water samples a month. I'm not sure if you 652 00:34:58,480 --> 00:35:01,400 Speaker 1: said that, but they were a from these particular stations 653 00:35:01,760 --> 00:35:03,880 Speaker 1: and they do all kinds of tests. Are testing obviously 654 00:35:03,920 --> 00:35:10,560 Speaker 1: for turbidity, which is cloudiness, pH chlorine, bacteria, does it 655 00:35:10,680 --> 00:35:12,720 Speaker 1: stink like all kinds of tests that they're. 656 00:35:12,560 --> 00:35:16,880 Speaker 2: Doing, right, And usually the New York City water is 657 00:35:16,920 --> 00:35:19,200 Speaker 2: going to pass all these tests like it's there's not 658 00:35:19,239 --> 00:35:21,520 Speaker 2: going to be a problem. This is just a extra 659 00:35:21,600 --> 00:35:24,160 Speaker 2: little quality assurance that they're doing because by the time 660 00:35:24,200 --> 00:35:27,120 Speaker 2: it reaches these testing stations, that's where it's going to 661 00:35:27,160 --> 00:35:30,239 Speaker 2: the taps anyway, it's tapping into the tap water basically, right, 662 00:35:30,960 --> 00:35:35,360 Speaker 2: so that ten percent of water goes through a couple 663 00:35:35,440 --> 00:35:39,920 Speaker 2: extra steps that is that that the other ninety percent 664 00:35:39,960 --> 00:35:42,000 Speaker 2: doesn't go through. One of the first things it does 665 00:35:42,040 --> 00:35:45,160 Speaker 2: in a treatment plan is it's mixed with alum which 666 00:35:45,200 --> 00:35:50,400 Speaker 2: is a component of aluminum, right, and alum attracts organic 667 00:35:50,480 --> 00:35:53,560 Speaker 2: compounds and basically says, rise to the surface with me, 668 00:35:53,640 --> 00:35:57,040 Speaker 2: and it creates flock, which is a white, frothy sludge, 669 00:35:57,120 --> 00:35:59,040 Speaker 2: and all that is just skimmed off the top. 670 00:36:00,400 --> 00:36:03,680 Speaker 1: Yeah, this sounds so gross and it is, but like 671 00:36:03,880 --> 00:36:06,120 Speaker 1: in the end, you get your good water. The next 672 00:36:06,160 --> 00:36:09,880 Speaker 1: thing that happens is it flows through these giant water filters. 673 00:36:11,160 --> 00:36:13,720 Speaker 1: Day've put it as like these giant Brita filters. It's 674 00:36:14,239 --> 00:36:17,080 Speaker 1: essentially sort of the same thing. And this is just 675 00:36:17,120 --> 00:36:20,480 Speaker 1: going to further purify the water, passing through layers and 676 00:36:20,600 --> 00:36:25,480 Speaker 1: layers of stuff like sand and anthracite. And then comes 677 00:36:25,520 --> 00:36:28,080 Speaker 1: the ultra violet light that you referenced earlier, right. 678 00:36:28,360 --> 00:36:31,080 Speaker 2: Yes, and one hundred percent of New York's water is 679 00:36:31,360 --> 00:36:34,319 Speaker 2: sent through a UV filter because UV filters are really 680 00:36:34,320 --> 00:36:40,040 Speaker 2: good at disrupting reproduction of bacteria, and so all water 681 00:36:40,280 --> 00:36:43,400 Speaker 2: is apped. But that ninety percent of water that's not 682 00:36:43,480 --> 00:36:46,560 Speaker 2: filtered that goes through a separate UV filtering plant that's 683 00:36:46,560 --> 00:36:49,200 Speaker 2: built just for those, that's right, And that's where like 684 00:36:49,239 --> 00:36:51,720 Speaker 2: a billion gallons of water a day are z apped 685 00:36:51,760 --> 00:36:55,880 Speaker 2: with UV lights. But so all of that gets combined 686 00:36:55,920 --> 00:37:00,760 Speaker 2: together eventually and comes out your tap. And New Yorkers 687 00:37:01,480 --> 00:37:04,680 Speaker 2: drink it straight from the tap. Literally. It is very 688 00:37:04,680 --> 00:37:07,240 Speaker 2: bizarre because I don't know if it's a placebo effect 689 00:37:07,320 --> 00:37:10,680 Speaker 2: or what, but I feel like it does taste pretty 690 00:37:10,680 --> 00:37:13,799 Speaker 2: good for tap water. It does, but at the same time, 691 00:37:13,840 --> 00:37:17,160 Speaker 2: I typically don't drink just straight tapwater, so my frame 692 00:37:17,200 --> 00:37:19,160 Speaker 2: of reference isn't necessarily right there. 693 00:37:19,320 --> 00:37:21,359 Speaker 1: You want to hear something funny, Yeah, you know what 694 00:37:21,360 --> 00:37:23,880 Speaker 1: my brother's favorite water is and what it's probably just 695 00:37:23,920 --> 00:37:26,839 Speaker 1: a bit, but he claims it's true. What hose water? 696 00:37:28,239 --> 00:37:29,440 Speaker 2: Oh, I know what he's talking about. 697 00:37:30,040 --> 00:37:32,960 Speaker 1: Yeah, like when you're watering the car or watering the car. 698 00:37:33,000 --> 00:37:36,759 Speaker 1: When you're washing the car, here's right, grow car when 699 00:37:36,800 --> 00:37:39,399 Speaker 1: you're watering your mini, so it grows into an suv, right. 700 00:37:39,719 --> 00:37:43,680 Speaker 2: So I think the reason why Scott is onto something 701 00:37:43,719 --> 00:37:46,320 Speaker 2: is because when you're drinking from a hose, it's summertime 702 00:37:46,360 --> 00:37:47,040 Speaker 2: and it's hot. 703 00:37:46,880 --> 00:37:48,720 Speaker 1: Out, yeah, and you're probably working hard. 704 00:37:50,280 --> 00:37:53,160 Speaker 2: Maybe it definitely it definitely does taste different, for sure. 705 00:37:53,800 --> 00:37:57,280 Speaker 1: So when it comes to New York water, everyone says 706 00:37:57,280 --> 00:38:00,920 Speaker 1: it's the best in the country. There are rankings, actually, 707 00:38:01,480 --> 00:38:05,480 Speaker 1: and it is thirteen out of one hundred metro areas 708 00:38:05,520 --> 00:38:06,080 Speaker 1: in the US. 709 00:38:06,480 --> 00:38:09,239 Speaker 2: So it's not the best literally by definition, not the 710 00:38:09,239 --> 00:38:10,160 Speaker 2: best water in the cut. 711 00:38:10,200 --> 00:38:12,360 Speaker 1: You've got to move to Arlington, Texas if you want. 712 00:38:13,400 --> 00:38:16,600 Speaker 1: And this this was from ten years ago, but I'm 713 00:38:16,640 --> 00:38:18,839 Speaker 1: not sure what the current status is. Imagine Arlington's still 714 00:38:18,920 --> 00:38:19,640 Speaker 1: up there though. 715 00:38:19,800 --> 00:38:21,279 Speaker 2: Sure, but you're going to have to have a lot 716 00:38:21,320 --> 00:38:24,600 Speaker 2: more reasons than that to move to Arlington, Texas. Ouch 717 00:38:26,440 --> 00:38:27,480 Speaker 2: that one, I'm not taking that. 718 00:38:27,800 --> 00:38:29,840 Speaker 1: What are some of the problems though with New York water. 719 00:38:30,160 --> 00:38:33,320 Speaker 2: Well, there's two big problems. Turbidity, which you mentioned earlier, 720 00:38:33,360 --> 00:38:38,320 Speaker 2: which is sediment suspension in the water, which gives it 721 00:38:38,400 --> 00:38:41,600 Speaker 2: kind of a cloudy or darker, gritty kind of look, 722 00:38:42,040 --> 00:38:45,040 Speaker 2: which is it's not just that it looks bad, its 723 00:38:45,600 --> 00:38:48,440 Speaker 2: pathogens can cling to that sediment, so it's not something 724 00:38:48,440 --> 00:38:51,680 Speaker 2: you want suspended. Plus it also makes it much more 725 00:38:51,680 --> 00:38:54,800 Speaker 2: difficult to filter that stuff out. It's like extra work 726 00:38:54,840 --> 00:38:57,360 Speaker 2: that has to be done to get rid of that sediment. 727 00:38:57,880 --> 00:38:59,879 Speaker 2: And if you're not filtering your water to begin with, 728 00:39:00,360 --> 00:39:03,839 Speaker 2: that's kind of a problem. And then secondly, the other 729 00:39:03,960 --> 00:39:09,520 Speaker 2: one is nutrients. It's over nutrient meaning it's just packed 730 00:39:09,520 --> 00:39:10,520 Speaker 2: with ribal flavor. 731 00:39:12,840 --> 00:39:16,560 Speaker 1: Well, what it actually is is fertilizer runoff. You know, 732 00:39:16,800 --> 00:39:20,759 Speaker 1: those farmers are doing their best, but there is fertilizer 733 00:39:21,239 --> 00:39:25,520 Speaker 1: that goes downstream and runs into the watersheds, and phosphorus 734 00:39:25,560 --> 00:39:29,040 Speaker 1: is one of the biggest problems because farmers do fertilize 735 00:39:29,040 --> 00:39:33,240 Speaker 1: with phosphorus and if it runs off. The phosphorus alone 736 00:39:33,520 --> 00:39:35,440 Speaker 1: is not great because it can cause algae blooms and 737 00:39:35,480 --> 00:39:38,840 Speaker 1: stuff like that, and it can taste bad and stink. 738 00:39:39,239 --> 00:39:41,480 Speaker 2: Yeah, because when the algae dies, it decays and it 739 00:39:41,520 --> 00:39:42,479 Speaker 2: does not smell good. 740 00:39:42,560 --> 00:39:46,160 Speaker 1: No, it does not smell good. But a bigger problem, though, 741 00:39:46,640 --> 00:39:48,800 Speaker 1: is when you combine that with the chlorine. Because, like 742 00:39:48,840 --> 00:39:52,799 Speaker 1: we said, New York water is chlorinated and fluoridated. We 743 00:39:52,880 --> 00:39:54,080 Speaker 1: have the T shirts to prove. 744 00:39:53,920 --> 00:39:56,480 Speaker 2: It, right. I don't think we said it was fluoridated, 745 00:39:56,480 --> 00:39:57,399 Speaker 2: but yeah, everybody knows. 746 00:39:57,480 --> 00:40:02,640 Speaker 1: Yeah it's fluoridated. And when you combine that chlorine with 747 00:40:02,680 --> 00:40:08,120 Speaker 1: a phosphorus, it can create byproducts called disinfection byproducts, and 748 00:40:08,160 --> 00:40:09,200 Speaker 1: that is no good at all. 749 00:40:09,440 --> 00:40:13,600 Speaker 2: No, those are nasty. They're called d bps and they 750 00:40:13,960 --> 00:40:20,840 Speaker 2: are basically like chemicals that are accidentally made from sanitizing water. 751 00:40:21,360 --> 00:40:24,520 Speaker 2: And not just with chlorine, but chlorine chlorine. There's a 752 00:40:24,520 --> 00:40:27,440 Speaker 2: bunch of different stuff that they use to disinfect water, 753 00:40:27,800 --> 00:40:32,000 Speaker 2: and all of them can combine with organic compounds to 754 00:40:32,080 --> 00:40:39,640 Speaker 2: create really just nasty stuff like carcinages or carcinogens. Some 755 00:40:39,680 --> 00:40:44,120 Speaker 2: can produce miscarriages. It's just really really bad stuff that 756 00:40:44,160 --> 00:40:45,880 Speaker 2: can be produced in the drinking water. 757 00:40:46,160 --> 00:40:48,399 Speaker 1: Chloroform is one of those byproducts. 758 00:40:48,840 --> 00:40:52,080 Speaker 2: Yeah, which is why New Yorkers frequently faint when they're 759 00:40:52,120 --> 00:40:53,040 Speaker 2: drinking tapwater. 760 00:40:53,840 --> 00:40:58,720 Speaker 1: But this all sounds super scary New York City. They are. 761 00:40:59,400 --> 00:41:01,880 Speaker 1: They have I think there are eight to known contaminants, 762 00:41:03,000 --> 00:41:06,760 Speaker 1: but they are still apparently well under the legal limit, 763 00:41:07,920 --> 00:41:09,960 Speaker 1: depending on what you think about how the legal limits 764 00:41:09,960 --> 00:41:10,400 Speaker 1: are set. 765 00:41:10,280 --> 00:41:12,360 Speaker 2: Up for it, right, exactly, it's a good caveat. 766 00:41:12,360 --> 00:41:14,560 Speaker 1: But New York City drinking water is thirty point nine 767 00:41:14,600 --> 00:41:18,360 Speaker 1: parts per billion chloroform and the national average is eleven. 768 00:41:18,440 --> 00:41:21,000 Speaker 1: So they're way higher on chloroform. But as far as 769 00:41:21,000 --> 00:41:24,799 Speaker 1: all of those DBPs total, they're far below the legal 770 00:41:24,840 --> 00:41:27,440 Speaker 1: limit and just a little bit above average nationally. 771 00:41:28,000 --> 00:41:31,239 Speaker 2: Right, And then the total number of DBPs that they 772 00:41:31,280 --> 00:41:34,000 Speaker 2: have is actually less than those in Arlington. 773 00:41:34,160 --> 00:41:34,960 Speaker 1: So interesting. 774 00:41:35,120 --> 00:41:36,320 Speaker 2: Chew on that Arlington. 775 00:41:36,440 --> 00:41:38,640 Speaker 1: That's right, Chew on that bad pizza. 776 00:41:39,080 --> 00:41:43,560 Speaker 2: Speaking of chewing, Chuck and pizza. Let's just answer this question. 777 00:41:44,080 --> 00:41:47,480 Speaker 2: Is New York City's water the key ingredient to New 778 00:41:47,560 --> 00:41:49,640 Speaker 2: York City bagels and pizza? H? 779 00:41:49,920 --> 00:41:52,600 Speaker 1: I think, I mean, you can't definitively say, but I 780 00:41:52,600 --> 00:41:54,600 Speaker 1: think it does have something to do with it. For sure. 781 00:41:54,800 --> 00:41:58,680 Speaker 2: It's got to because science is involved. So here's the thing. 782 00:41:59,000 --> 00:42:02,120 Speaker 2: The water from the Catskills and from the Delaware is 783 00:42:02,239 --> 00:42:06,839 Speaker 2: naturally soft, meaning that it's lowing calcium and magnesium. Where 784 00:42:06,880 --> 00:42:10,239 Speaker 2: do you fall on loving softer hard water? I'm a 785 00:42:10,280 --> 00:42:12,200 Speaker 2: hard water guy, same here man. 786 00:42:12,360 --> 00:42:15,560 Speaker 1: When I lived in Arizona, they had soft water where 787 00:42:15,600 --> 00:42:19,120 Speaker 1: I lived in my sister's house that I lived in, 788 00:42:19,120 --> 00:42:23,160 Speaker 1: and most of the houses had water softening or I 789 00:42:23,160 --> 00:42:26,240 Speaker 1: guess hardening units or whatever in the house. 790 00:42:26,840 --> 00:42:29,319 Speaker 2: Yeah, because you can't feel clean, like you never feel 791 00:42:29,360 --> 00:42:32,280 Speaker 2: like you got the shampoo or the soap off. It's awful. 792 00:42:32,800 --> 00:42:33,800 Speaker 2: It's just awful. 793 00:42:33,840 --> 00:42:35,279 Speaker 1: Does anyone like soft water? 794 00:42:35,640 --> 00:42:37,720 Speaker 2: I don't know, weirdo's probably. 795 00:42:37,800 --> 00:42:41,320 Speaker 1: I mean hard water. Sorry, no, I had it all backwards. 796 00:42:42,120 --> 00:42:44,240 Speaker 2: Okay, So so you like soft water. 797 00:42:44,160 --> 00:42:47,960 Speaker 1: Yeah, that's why I actually, that's why I misspoke. They 798 00:42:47,960 --> 00:42:51,400 Speaker 1: had water softeners in Arizona because the water was hard 799 00:42:52,200 --> 00:42:53,360 Speaker 1: New York water is soft. 800 00:42:53,480 --> 00:42:57,359 Speaker 2: I like soft, Okay, I like hard water typically because 801 00:42:57,400 --> 00:43:01,359 Speaker 2: I feel like I'm clean afterward. But water like just 802 00:43:01,400 --> 00:43:03,920 Speaker 2: the New York water is fine with me. But a 803 00:43:04,040 --> 00:43:07,360 Speaker 2: softened like a chemically softened water, I can't stand. 804 00:43:07,440 --> 00:43:09,440 Speaker 1: Oh really, yes, interesting. 805 00:43:10,200 --> 00:43:14,480 Speaker 2: But New York's is naturally soft, so it doesn't have calcium, magnesium, 806 00:43:14,560 --> 00:43:17,480 Speaker 2: or it's very low in those things comparatively, and that 807 00:43:17,560 --> 00:43:20,960 Speaker 2: actually has an effect on taste, like calcium and magnesium 808 00:43:21,040 --> 00:43:23,959 Speaker 2: can provide like a bitter taste to water. So there's 809 00:43:24,000 --> 00:43:26,759 Speaker 2: one thing that they're saying, like, Okay, the dough isn't 810 00:43:26,800 --> 00:43:30,000 Speaker 2: going to taste naturally bitter because of the calcium magnesium. 811 00:43:30,160 --> 00:43:33,600 Speaker 1: That's something that is something, and it also interacts with 812 00:43:33,640 --> 00:43:36,239 Speaker 1: the flour. If you're going to make a bagel or 813 00:43:36,239 --> 00:43:39,080 Speaker 1: a biali or pizza crust, sure you can be or 814 00:43:39,400 --> 00:43:41,440 Speaker 1: you know a lot of things when you're baking, but 815 00:43:41,480 --> 00:43:43,640 Speaker 1: those are the big three. In New York. You're going 816 00:43:43,719 --> 00:43:47,239 Speaker 1: to be using flour and water as your base for 817 00:43:47,360 --> 00:43:51,200 Speaker 1: your dough and hard water. The minerals in those tapwater 818 00:43:51,239 --> 00:43:53,320 Speaker 1: are going to fortify the gluten and they're going to 819 00:43:53,400 --> 00:43:56,320 Speaker 1: make it tough and less flexible. You don't want it 820 00:43:56,360 --> 00:43:58,920 Speaker 1: too soft, though, because it'll have the opposite effect. It 821 00:43:58,920 --> 00:44:00,319 Speaker 1: will be gooey and you won't be able to work 822 00:44:00,320 --> 00:44:03,480 Speaker 1: it as well. Right, And apparently the American Chemical Society 823 00:44:03,480 --> 00:44:06,400 Speaker 1: says New York City tap water is the Goldilocks of 824 00:44:06,440 --> 00:44:07,120 Speaker 1: bagel water. 825 00:44:07,719 --> 00:44:10,760 Speaker 2: It is just right yep, not too hard, not too soft, 826 00:44:11,040 --> 00:44:14,279 Speaker 2: just perfect for a begel and for a pizza. And 827 00:44:14,480 --> 00:44:17,839 Speaker 2: that that American Chemical Society quote came from a Smithsonian 828 00:44:17,960 --> 00:44:21,359 Speaker 2: article and they went on to say, probably though, it's 829 00:44:21,400 --> 00:44:24,520 Speaker 2: actually the techniques that New Yorkers use to make bagels. 830 00:44:24,560 --> 00:44:27,520 Speaker 2: Like they poach the bagel dough first, like they boil it. 831 00:44:28,080 --> 00:44:30,920 Speaker 1: That's the only way to do a bagel. Sure it's boiled, 832 00:44:31,000 --> 00:44:31,640 Speaker 1: it's not a bagel. 833 00:44:31,880 --> 00:44:32,400 Speaker 2: No it's not. 834 00:44:32,520 --> 00:44:35,480 Speaker 1: It's like a bake donut. It's not a donut basically. 835 00:44:35,760 --> 00:44:40,439 Speaker 2: And then they also will they'll let the yeast sit 836 00:44:40,560 --> 00:44:42,359 Speaker 2: for a little while to make it for mint, which 837 00:44:42,400 --> 00:44:48,280 Speaker 2: creates volatile flavor compounds, so it just tastes better. They're saying, 838 00:44:48,360 --> 00:44:51,160 Speaker 2: probably those are the reasons why New Yorkers make better 839 00:44:51,200 --> 00:44:54,839 Speaker 2: bagels or pizza. And it's not really the water. The 840 00:44:54,880 --> 00:44:57,360 Speaker 2: water just contributes a very small amount. 841 00:44:58,440 --> 00:44:59,640 Speaker 1: I think it's all those things. 842 00:45:00,080 --> 00:45:02,480 Speaker 2: Why not? No one can say for certain, so let's 843 00:45:02,520 --> 00:45:05,279 Speaker 2: just say yes, it is exactly things. Well, if you 844 00:45:05,320 --> 00:45:07,479 Speaker 2: want to know more about New York City's tap water, 845 00:45:07,600 --> 00:45:10,759 Speaker 2: go on to New York City and try their tap water. 846 00:45:11,239 --> 00:45:15,719 Speaker 2: And since I said that it's time for listener mail everybody. 847 00:45:16,520 --> 00:45:20,919 Speaker 1: I'm gonna call this house rolling. And we talked about 848 00:45:20,920 --> 00:45:24,680 Speaker 1: tepeing houses. Yep, love the podcast. Guys, just finish up 849 00:45:24,680 --> 00:45:27,520 Speaker 1: trick or treating, and you were talking about rolling houses. 850 00:45:27,640 --> 00:45:31,000 Speaker 1: I grew up in Franklin, Tennessee, where we used to 851 00:45:31,040 --> 00:45:34,279 Speaker 1: roll houses all the time. In Franklin, Tennessee, for people 852 00:45:34,360 --> 00:45:37,239 Speaker 1: don't know, is where a lot of big shot Nashville 853 00:45:37,680 --> 00:45:40,640 Speaker 1: big wigs live because you can buy a huge house 854 00:45:40,680 --> 00:45:45,040 Speaker 1: with lots of land. That was Chuck speaking right. Funny 855 00:45:45,040 --> 00:45:48,280 Speaker 1: thing though, guys, I'm back to being Brandon. Okay, funny 856 00:45:48,280 --> 00:45:51,160 Speaker 1: thing though, guys. My neighbor was Brad Paisley. There was 857 00:45:51,160 --> 00:45:53,560 Speaker 1: a couple of years before his first Grammy award. And 858 00:45:53,600 --> 00:45:55,520 Speaker 1: once we found this out, we knew that we had 859 00:45:55,560 --> 00:45:57,759 Speaker 1: to get them. So my sister and I gathered all 860 00:45:57,800 --> 00:46:00,440 Speaker 1: of our friends dressed in black and snow out to 861 00:46:00,520 --> 00:46:03,839 Speaker 1: roll this country. Music Stars house. We were halfway through 862 00:46:03,840 --> 00:46:07,560 Speaker 1: the job when his freaking tour bus rolled up on us. 863 00:46:08,120 --> 00:46:09,960 Speaker 1: At first, we all ran away frightened, but we were 864 00:46:10,000 --> 00:46:12,480 Speaker 1: pretty much caught in the act. Nowhere to go. He 865 00:46:12,520 --> 00:46:14,200 Speaker 1: got off the bus and was super nice about the 866 00:46:14,200 --> 00:46:16,400 Speaker 1: whole thing. Actually, he gave us a quick tour of 867 00:46:16,400 --> 00:46:19,040 Speaker 1: the tour bus, chatted us up for a little while. 868 00:46:19,360 --> 00:46:21,040 Speaker 1: We even cleaned up the little bit of mess we 869 00:46:21,040 --> 00:46:24,560 Speaker 1: had made, and left starstruck. I highly doubt he remembers 870 00:46:24,560 --> 00:46:26,000 Speaker 1: that night at all, but my friends and I will 871 00:46:26,040 --> 00:46:29,399 Speaker 1: certainly never forget anyway. That's all I got. Guys, have 872 00:46:29,400 --> 00:46:32,520 Speaker 1: a spooky Halloween. That is from Brandon Saunders. 873 00:46:33,560 --> 00:46:36,080 Speaker 2: That is very nice. Brandon, thanks a lot for that email, 874 00:46:36,120 --> 00:46:39,479 Speaker 2: and hats off to Brad Paisley for being so cool. 875 00:46:39,719 --> 00:46:41,279 Speaker 1: He doesn't take his hat off, but. 876 00:46:41,320 --> 00:46:43,960 Speaker 2: All right, exactly, but also how about just a hat 877 00:46:43,960 --> 00:46:44,359 Speaker 2: tip then? 878 00:46:44,520 --> 00:46:47,240 Speaker 1: Yeah? Or actually I was thinking Kenny Chesney because he's bald. 879 00:46:47,360 --> 00:46:50,200 Speaker 2: None of those guys take their hats off, dude. So 880 00:46:50,440 --> 00:46:52,719 Speaker 2: but also he hangs out with Peyton Manning, which means 881 00:46:52,719 --> 00:46:54,840 Speaker 2: that he must be a good guy. Right, Oh yeah, 882 00:46:54,960 --> 00:46:56,280 Speaker 2: isn't Peyton a good dude? 883 00:46:56,480 --> 00:46:58,279 Speaker 1: Sure? I'm just tired of seeing him on my TV. 884 00:46:59,160 --> 00:47:01,799 Speaker 2: Oh that's not gonna app anytime soon. Pretty soon you'll 885 00:47:01,800 --> 00:47:04,000 Speaker 2: see them in augmented reality, and you're going to say 886 00:47:04,080 --> 00:47:08,480 Speaker 2: everywhere you go, like it or not, Charles. Okay, Well, 887 00:47:08,480 --> 00:47:09,759 Speaker 2: if you want to get in touch with this, like 888 00:47:09,800 --> 00:47:13,160 Speaker 2: Brad Paisley did, you can go on to stuff youshould 889 00:47:13,200 --> 00:47:16,400 Speaker 2: Know dot com and check out our social links, and 890 00:47:16,560 --> 00:47:18,560 Speaker 2: you can also send us a good old fashioned email, 891 00:47:18,800 --> 00:47:20,920 Speaker 2: wrap it up, spank it on the bottom, with it 892 00:47:21,080 --> 00:47:23,480 Speaker 2: some good old country goodness, and send it off to 893 00:47:23,640 --> 00:47:28,280 Speaker 2: stuff podcast at iHeartRadio dot com. 894 00:47:29,520 --> 00:47:32,400 Speaker 1: Stuff you Should Know is a production of iHeartRadio. For 895 00:47:32,480 --> 00:47:36,640 Speaker 1: more podcasts my heart Radio, visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, 896 00:47:36,760 --> 00:47:38,640 Speaker 1: or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.