CWQT week 20--results and season wrap-up

[Rob Buchanan]

It's over--Thursday was our last sampling day of the 2016 season! Results and a few news items and photos below. We'll knock off the weekly emails now, but don't hesitate to be in touch with questions, ideas, and/or checks--large and small amounts accepted! 

The week-by-week all-sites spreadsheet is here.

Individual site results are available on our map interface here.

News, info and photos:

A bit more info on that Coney Island Creek investigation we mentioned last week: according to Gary Kline from the Municipal Compliance section of the New York State DEC's Division of Water, high bacteria counts triggered a wide-ranging city (NYC DEP) investigation that turned up 15 large residential buildings, totaling more than 1000 apartments, whose drains had been improperly diverted to the storm sewer rather than the regular sanitary lines that lead to the treatment plant. Figuring an average of 200 gallons of wastewater per apartment, the DEC estimates that about 200,000 gallons per day were flowing directly into the creek. 

The good news is that once the proper connections are restored, there ought to be immediate water quality gains. "If you’re going to take a couple hundred thousands of gallons out of that small creek," Kline said, "you’re going to have a significant effect." 

We'd love to take credit for the investigation but can't, since our volunteers only started sampling in Coney Island Creek late this summer. Nevertheless we think our data will be useful in tracking changes, and look forward to sending you updates next season. We've also asked the DEC to look into a few other dry-weather 'hotspots' around the harbor that our data seem point to, and they say they will.

More good news for Coney Island Creek: a community cleanup effort has been scheduled for next Saturday, October 8, as a part of International Coastal Cleanup Day. Join Partnership for Parks from 10 AM to 2 PM at Kaiser Park. More information here. 

Two ways to express your support for the Citizens Water Quality Testing Program:

1) Click here if you'd like to help us cover costs for testing supplies (about $260 per site per season), or send a check made out to NYCWTA-CWQT to: 251 Clermont Ave., Brooklyn NY, 11205. 

2) Join us at the annual Golden Toilet Awards gala, which will take place Thursday October 13 at 5:30 at The River Project field station on the south side of Pier 4. It's not actually a gala, just our informal end-of-the-season gathering, but it's free and festive and the sunset views are usually great. All are invited, and refreshments will be provided!

Finally, here's an early-morning shot from Katherine Bradford, who sampled this week at Gantry State Park on the East River.

And here's Aquinnah Thurlow, junior sampler at our Hoboken Cove sampling site.

Thanks to all for your interest and support, and see you next year!

--The CWQT Team