Delaware Aqueduct facts for kids
The Delaware Aqueduct is a very long underground tunnel. It carries drinking water for New York City. This amazing aqueduct is part of the New York City water supply system.
It collects water from several large lakes, called reservoirs. These include the Rondout Reservoir, Cannonsville Reservoir, Neversink Reservoir, and Pepacton Reservoir. These reservoirs are located west of the Hudson River.
The water then travels through the aqueduct. It goes to other reservoirs like the West Branch Reservoir, Kensico Reservoir, and Hillview Reservoir. The journey ends at Hillview Reservoir in Yonkers, New York.
This huge tunnel was built between 1939 and 1945. It supplies about half of New York City's daily water. That's a massive amount of water, about 1.3 billion gallons every day! The Delaware Aqueduct is 13.5 feet (4.1 meters) wide. It is also 85 miles (137 kilometers) long. This makes it the longest tunnel in the world.
Where New York City's Water Comes From
The Delaware Aqueduct brings water from a huge area. This area is called a watershed. It includes the Rondout Reservoir and three other important reservoirs. These are the Cannonsville Reservoir, Neversink Reservoir, and Pepacton Reservoir.
Water from these reservoirs travels through special tunnels. These are called the Delaware and Neversink tunnels. The Rondout Reservoir is a key part of this system. It helps connect the water from the other three reservoirs.
Together, these four reservoirs collect water from over 1,000 square miles (2,600 square kilometers) of land. They can hold a huge amount of water. About 890 million gallons (3.4 billion liters) of this water goes to New York City every day. This is about half of all the water the city uses.
From the Rondout, the water flows to the West Branch Reservoir in Putnam County. Then it continues to the Kensico and Hillview reservoirs. These are in southern Westchester County. After that, the water is sent out to homes and businesses in New York City.
Fixing Leaks in the Aqueduct
For many years, the Delaware Aqueduct has had leaks. These leaks let out a lot of water every day. Sometimes, as much as 36 million gallons (136 million liters) of water can escape. This is enough water to supply nearly half a million people!
These leaks have caused problems. They can lead to flooding in nearby areas. They can also affect the quality of drinking water. This has been a big concern for people living in places like Wawarsing.
One leak was found in the town of Newburgh. People there thought a bubbling stream was natural. But it was actually water blasting from a crack deep inside the aqueduct. The crack was about 650 feet (200 meters) underground!
Building a New Bypass Tunnel
To fix these big leaks, the New York City Department of Environmental Protection (NYCDEP) started a huge project. They are building a new tunnel called the Rondout-West Branch Bypass Tunnel. This new tunnel is about 2.5 miles (4 kilometers) long. It will go under the Hudson River.
Building this bypass tunnel is a very complex job. It costs about $1.5 billion. A large part of this money, $1 billion, is for building the new tunnel. This tunnel will go around the biggest leak in Roseton. The rest of the money will be used to fix other leaks in the Wawarsing area.
When the new bypass tunnel is ready, the entire Delaware Aqueduct will be temporarily shut down. This will allow workers to connect the new tunnel. It will also let them drain the water from the old aqueduct. This way, they can go inside and fix the leaks in Wawarsing and Newburgh.
Shutting down the aqueduct means New York City will lose about half of its water supply for a short time. To prepare for this, the NYCDEP is improving other parts of the water system. This will make sure the city still has enough water.
Construction on the part of the bypass tunnel under the Hudson River began in January 2018. A special machine called a tunnel boring machine is used. It is named NORA, after a famous engineer named Nora Stanton Blatch Deforest Barney. This machine drills through solid rock. In August 2019, NORA finished drilling 12,448 feet (3,794 meters) of rock. This was 700 to 800 feet (213 to 244 meters) below the ground! The project is expected to be finished around 2021.
