NYC, State Open Valhalla Ultraviolet Water Treatment Plant
By Janine Bowen
The new $1.5 billion Catskill/Delaware Ultraviolet Treatment Facility celebrated its grand opening last Tuesday in Valhalla.
The facility, operated by the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) and has been under construction for the last seven years, is the largest water treatment plant of its kind in the world. It aims to make drinking water safer for all New York City residents as well as 500,000 in Westchester.
“Promoting safe, high quality, excellent tasting drinking water to millions of people is what this whole processing facility is about,” said Dr. Howard Zucker, first deputy commissioner for the state Department of Health.
The plant consists of 56 filtration units, each with more than 200 ultraviolet lights. About 500 billion gallons of water from multiple reservoirs and lakes west of the Hudson will be treated each day.
“It provides an important layer of protection to ensure that some of the naturally occurring microorganisms found in all surface waters are harmless when they reach the tap,” DEP Commissioner Carter Strickland explained.
The facility operates by transmitting ultraviolet rays through the water to kill harmful organisms such as cryptosporidium and giardia, which frequently form at low levels but could be harmful to people with weak immune systems.
New York City Deputy Mayor Cas Holloway said although the implementation of ultraviolet disinfection is a major change that will further the health and safety of millions, there will be no discernible difference in the water.
“It’s a silent transformation,” Holloway said. “For the nine million people who rely on this water supply, they will likely not notice this at all. You can’t taste UV. You can’t taste filtration.”
Although the ribbon cutting occurred last week, the facility has treated water since September 2012. The plant has already been recognized with awards from the American Council of Engineering and the International Ultraviolet Association.
The DEP also plans to continue its work in Westchester with a project to enable drinking water to be transported to New York City from the Croton Watershed for the first time in a decade.
Adam has worked in the local news industry for the past two decades in Westchester County and the broader Hudson Valley. Read more from Adam’s author bio here.
