Sabrina Abrahim – Fall 2017: Science Forward

The Champagne of Drinking Water

While New York City’s driving water is famous for its pristine taste, it may not be “Champagne of drinking water” as its referred too. New York is still at the better half when it comes to drinking water in the nation. The city ranked 13th place among the 100 metropolitan areas included in the EWG’s most current rankings. The rankings are based on the amount of chemicals detected pollutants in the water. But where does the city’s drinking water come from? Ninety percent of the water comes from the Catskill Mountains where waters from tributary rivers collect in 19 reservoirs. The other 10% comes from smaller watersheds in Westchester and Rye.

https://twitter.com/SabrinaMHC2001/status/935594707656368128

26th Ward

The combined sewer overflow of storm water is not properly managed in the 26th Ward. It is the leading cause of water pollution.  Currently, an estimated 189 million gallons of raw sewage overflows annually into the Jamaica Bay. Combined Sewer Overflow is storm water that falls on roofs, streets and sidewalks, in addition to wastewater from homes and businesses, is carried through the sewer system to treatment plants.  About 50% of land in the 26th Ward is used for residential purposes . The Sewer shed takes up 5,575 acres- smallest sewer shed in Jamaica Bay area which is not large enough to tackle CSO.  About 70% of land in 26th Ward area is impervious and 30% pervious. A possible solution to the 26th ward is the implementation for a grey green infrastructure. More specifically, a storage tunnel interception that can contain CSO’s and impervious ground that can slow down infiltration into the system without increasing runoff.

Battery Park City

After my tour of the Solaire and Battery Park City, I had an optimistic view of a future, more sustainable New York City. The Solaire building is famous for its Integrated Water System that combines storm water, groundwater and sewer water. The grey and black water is recycled and reused for toilets, showers and everyday water use for the building’s inhabitants. This minimizes the possibility of combined sewer overflow. Additionally, the solar panels on the face of the building allow for a more environmentally friendly power source. The building is surrounding by green space including Roosevelt Field Park and Teardrop Park that allow for more porous ground that minimizes storm water runoff. Teardrop Park, specifically, is famous for its sustainable efforts. For instance, all the water that is used to irrigate the park’s needs is from the recycled water coming from the Solaire building. The restrooms in the park also reuse black and grey water to prevent excess wastewater. No fertilizers are used in the park itself. Even the parks kid-friendly features like the sprinkler system recycles water and releases water for only 15 minutes at a time.

As I continued walking near the 9/11 Memorial Fountain, I realized how this integrated water system can further minimize storm water runoff that pollutes our open oceans. The 9/11 Memorial Fountain releases 52,000 gallons of water per minute. However, the water does circulate throughout the system every two minutes. If the water used could be rainwater and treated black water, this can further limit runoff. This powerful art display can be a voice to educate people about the importance of water conservation. One of the sustainable features surrounding the 9/11 Memorial is 400 trees that have planted that can absorb storm water. If the trees could have pipes that cycle and reuse the storm water like Teardrop Park this would boost the benefit of the excess green infrastructure. Similarly, the water surrounding the balloon flower can be recycled like the fountains in Teardrop Park. Even though it is not realistic to incorporate an Integrated Water System into every building in NYC, even if 15% of the buildings adapted this sustainable system, runoff would decrease substantially and the effects of combined sewer overflow would lesson dramatically in NYC and in our respective sewer sheds.

https://twitter.com/SabrinaMHC2001/status/932790338346942465

Water Conservation in Los Angeles

According to Jacques Leslie, writer for the NY Times, Los Angeles is one of the leading cities in water conservation efforts and reusable technology. Since 1970, the Los Angeles population has increased from 2.9 million to 3.8 million but the city is consuming less water than it did in 1970. Two main projects are responsible for these incredible results. LA has built a water treatment wetland in place of what used to be a bus maintenance yard. Additionally, a water management plan has prevented flooding in an area with 80,000 inhabitants. These projects lead to the recycling of wastewater from sewers, stormwater and polluted water. In 1990, LA was forced to limit the quantity of imported water as other cities are facing today to prevent overconsumption and wastewater. 89% of Los Angeles water is still imported today since rain is limited in LA and droughts are common. Even with this imported water, LA has reduced its per capita water use to 46 gallons a day. These outcomes are credited to the cycling of stormwater, groundwater and wastewater from homes. When it does rain in Los Angeles, major flooding occurs. To control future flooding, infrastructures were built to rapidly remove the stormwater into the Pacific Ocean and out of residential areas. Even though this controlled flooding, urban development led to increase water runoff due to impermeable cement streets. The water carries toxins, chemicals and pollutants and when moved into the Pacific Ocean, pollutes the beaches. As a solution Dorothy Green of Heal the Bay and Andy Lipkis of TreePeople proposed that instead of exporting the water into the sea, the water should be captured for recycling and stored water could be consumed as needed. A $2.7 million dollar plan helped capture stormwater in Sun Valley, which is prone to flooding. This project was completed in 2010 and allowed residents to collect stormwater. Projects like these has transformed Los Angeles from the infamous city of exported water to the leading city in water conservation efforts.

Twitter Post: https://twitter.com/SabrinaMHC2001

Copenhagen: “Sustainability does not have to be boring”

CopenHill, Copenhagen's newest waste to energy plant. In 2018, the CopehnHill, a waste management and energy plant will open in Copenhagen. The facility will be the most efficient energy saving plant in the world. Sustainability does not have to be boring. The facility will include water sports, soccer fields, go-kart track, and a ski slope on its roof. The plant will be able to produce 25% more energy than the former plant with the same amount of waste. It will power 160,000 households across Copenhagen. The technology that powers the plant will also make it the most efficient waste burning plant in the world and allow for flexibility for future energy production.

https://quartzy.qz.com/1103633/copenhagens-newest-architectural-gem-is-a-waste-management-plant/

Climate Change Causes the US Billions of Dollars in Taxes

Climate change has caused devastating hurricanes and storms alone in this year. In the past decade, storms, droughts, and wildfires arose because of climate change and now Americans are paying to repair the damages in tax dollars. In the past decade, $350 billion have been spent on disaster relief programs, aid and insurance to reverse the effects of the damages. This does not include the three hurricanes this year alone that have been the worst yet. According to the Chicago Tribune, the federal government does not plan for these costs accordingly, and instead refer to costs that arose because of climate change as “high risk”. To manage the risks of climate change, the government needs to take into account the data that scientists have presented that prove climate change is worsening, and install programs and enact laws that can reduce the effects of climate change. Senator Cantwell, a Democrat on the Senate Committee on energy and Natural Resources requested stats from the GAO that very accurately link consequences of climate change on the economy and our tax dollars. With the appointed environment adviser at the White House, Kathleen Hartnett White, claiming the fossil fuel industry has only improved the standard of living of Americans, tax dollars will continue to rise as a results of a worsening climate change unless immediate action is taken to prevent such repurcussions

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/science/ct-climate-change-gao-report-20171023-story.html

https://twitter.com/SabrinaMHC2001/status/922813089803833344

Water and Urban Sustainability: Inspiration from Butterfly Wings and Spiders

It is not uncommon for scientists to look at nature and the natural world to find solutions for Earth’s everyday challenges including the scarcity of water. With the increasing demand for local food production, scientists and engineers need to concoct a new way for water to de distributed. A group in New York City referred to as NexLoop has invented a way to distribute water by mimicking the way a cribellate orb weaver spider webs collects fog from the air. This invention is named AquaWeb. Instead of relying on groundwater to water farms, the prototype collects rain and fog water to water outdoor and indoor farms, like greenhouses.

Researchers in the California Institute of Technology have found a way to mimic the way in which rose butterflies absorb light. They have created film solar cells that are two times more efficient at absorbing light that traditional solar cells. The butterfly’s wings contain nano holes that make the wings lighter and better for absorbing light. The order of the wings were crucial for this effect so scientists studied the wings under a microscope to better mimic them for their prototype. By recreating solar panels with this new technology, twice the amount of light can be absorbed and for longer periods of time. By redistributing water using rain water, that usually goes to waste and stormwater waste or runoff, and creating a way to increase the amount of light energy solar panels can absorb, this can lead to an increase in local food production.

http://www.sustainablebrands.com/news_and_views/product_service_design_innovation/sustainable_brands/trending_spiders_mushrooms_butte

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Water Sustainability

Water is essential for the existence of all life on Earth. It is crucial to preserve water through projects like watersheds, and sewer treatment plants to control flooding and water contamination. New York City’s DEP has one of the most complex wastewater systems in the world. Our water system delivers one billion gallons of drinking water to nine million New Yorkers every single day. The Mayor’s Office of Sustainability is working along with the DEP to install ad repair hundreds of new water fountains and bottle refiners in areas throughout New York, This will prevent unnecessary excess consumption of plastic bottles when refiners are available to the public. The use of plastic bottles add to pollution by increasing waste in our landfills when they are not recycled. In the 1970s alone, New York spent $1.7 billion water protection. Additionally, as an alternative method to capture storm water runoff, a Green Infrastructure program has been adopted. These “green areas” capture stormwater before it can enter the sewage system and cause flooding, and lead to unfiltered water because of the overflow.

https://twitter.com/SabrinaMHC2001/status/917516455889002501

Urban Sustainability: NYC Bag Fee

Steven Cohen, executive director of Columbia University’s Earth institute, writes about a recent law that was passed by the New York City government to charge a fee for paper and plastic bags that are currently given away for free to shoppers. This bill has stirred great debate and finally passed after two years of resistance. Mayor Bill de Blasio is in full support of the law. The purpose of the fee is not to collect money from shoppers but to raise awareness of the extra unnecessary consumption of paper and plastic that New Yorkers take advantage of everyday. The hope is that this fee will lead to New Yorkers bringing in their own plastic bags when shopping. The overuse bagging has filled up our landfills. According to J. David Goodman of the New York Times, the Sanitation Department has claimed to collect 10 billion plastic bags, that have only being used once, annually. What might seem like a minor change can have huge impact on the environment and our landfills.

More laws like this that will force people to ponder their actions and reduce the over-consumption of a product. For instance, beverage containers are all of one time use. As a initiative to force New Yorkers to recycle, five sets are awarded of every water bottle returned. This should extend to all beverages, the water bottle initiative should be applied to states other than New York. Cohen advises that all truck deliveries should have a “two-way commerce.” When dropping off products, drivers should pick up reusable containers and packaging. This is known as a circular economy, where goods are reused and recycled. As an example, my family has water containers delivered to our home every month, and the used containers are picked up with every delivery.

Tweets by SabrinaMHC2001

Bioblitz: Alley Pond Park and Amphibians

In the south side of Alley Pond Park, my group and I were searching for amphibians under logs and surrounding a small pond covered in algae. My twitter post includes pictures of the some of the critters we found.

Tweets by SabrinaMHC2001

One of the species shown is a spotted salamander, or Ambystoma maculate. We were warned not to hold the salamander by its tail as it can easily fall off. Additionally, salamanders do not have lungs. Instead, they breathe through pores on their skin so they should not be held for too long, as that can dry out their skin by preventing air form entering their lungs. Another salamander we found is the red-back salamander, or Plethodon cinerius. This salamander was slightly larger than the spotted salamander. These salamanders were found under logs. They “hide” from the sun in order to cool off. They lay their eggs in freshwater sources like ponds.

Towards the end of our walk through the woods, we saw an American toad, or Anaxyrus americanus, jumping around. The glands on the head of the toad, if pressed, can release poison.

One interesting question that was raised during our trip was whether or not the logs that the amphibians were found under should be considered a biotic or an abiotic factor. Certainly for the amphibian, the log acts as an abiotic factor, a habitat it lives off of. On the other hand, the log came off of a tree which is a biotic factor. This is the opinion that I believe to be true since the origin of the “factor” determines its status as living or nonliving.