When you google “Why does NYC have…”, one of the top 5 results is about its water. New York City has basically given itself a reputation of having amazing tasting and clean water. However, as this Thrillist article discusses, New York doesn’t even make the top 10 list of water quality in the United States. (Note: The data being used is from 2009). As the video mentioned, New York’s bagels and other baked goods’ popularity is commonly attributed to New York’s water quality, but is more about craft. Furthermore, as the article mentions, our baked goods are probably hurt more than they are helped by the water quality. Its incredibly interesting that despite seemingly being untrue, New York has a reputation for having great water and its bagels and pizza are great because of its water.
We all know NYC has great tasting water that is sourced from Upstate New York, but it almost supplied by the Hudson River instead! #bcsfh2o
— Matt Denaro (@mattdenaroMHC) October 10, 2017
As the article discusses, when New York had to rethink its water supply in the 1940s and 50s, it was actually this fabricated reputation for having great water that prevented New York’s water from being sourced from the Hudson. Since people thought the Hudson was a disgusting body of water, they did not want to get their water from there, despite the water source being 70 miles upstream. So instead of sourcing water from the river, the watershed that is currently used to give New York City its water was made. It is incredibly ironic that it was this reputation that prevented the Hudson River from being New York’s water supply, despite this reputation for having some of the best water in the country being largely untrue.
