In the water tanks of New York, they find E. coli

For many decades, water tanks standing on New York roofs have become an integral part of the cityscape. With their appearance they remind of past eras, but New Yorkers still use water from these tanks for drinking and household needs.

An investigation by the New York Times revealed that many of these water tanks had not been cleaned for years. On the inner walls are collected layers of plaque, and in the water fall pathogenic bacteria, mainly with droppings of birds and small mammals.

Requirements for the operation of water tanks, approved by the federal authorities, in most cases are not met, and checks are carried out irregularly.

Journalists took water samples from 12 tanks on rooftops in Manhattan, Queens and Brooklyn. Laboratory studies have confirmed the presence in eight of them of coliform bacteria (bacteria of the intestinal group). By themselves, such bacteria are not dangerous, but they create comfortable conditions for the life of pathogens. In five tanks, E. coli E. coli was found, which can cause diseases of the gastrointestinal tract.

In total, in New York, tap water is used, according to various estimates, from 12 000 to 17 000 water tanks on the roof of buildings on 7 floors and above. 60% of building owners do not check if tanks are properly operated.

Steven Eberg, a microbiologist at Yale University, notes that “the entry of bacteria from the droppings of birds and small animals into the tanks, most likely squirrels, indicates only one thing - that the tanks are not airtight.”

However, representatives of the health department insist that the water stored in these containers is safe for health. Meanwhile, the municipal service of complaints and proposals 311 every year dozens of reports about the diseases that followed the use of drinking water from the tap. None of these cases was, according to official data, related to the sanitary condition of the water tanks.