Water Watch NYC

Everything you need to know about water in NYC.


by Leave a comment

Ashokan Water will be presenting at BOMA 2024.

Ashokan Water will be presenting “REDUCE WATER COSTS, FOOTPRINT, AND FOSTER A CULTURE OF WATER CONSERVATION” at BOMA 2024.

Join us for a presentation on revolutionizing water management practices and fostering a culture of conservation. Hershel Weiss, Chief Engineer at Ashokan Water Services, will be talking about the success story of our collaboration with Chelsea Market, owned by Google, in water challenges and implementing sustainable solutions.

Key Highlights:

Comprehensive Solution: Discover how Ashokan Water Services identified and monitored 148 water end-use areas at Chelsea Market, installing sub-meters and AquaSync’s cloud platform for real-time data access.

Impactful Results: Learn about Chelsea Market’s remarkable achievements, including over 95% water cost recovery, significant reduction in water footprint, and proactive leak detection leading to prompt actions.

By the end of the presentation, participants will gain insights into:

  1. Understand the challenges that commercial buildings like Chelsea Market face in managing water costs and addressing water conservation.
  2. Explore such as sub-metering, to monitor water consumption and detect leaks in commercial buildings.
  3. Learn about the positive impact of effective water management solutions on reducing water footprints, fostering conservation cultures, and enabling proactive leak detection.
  4. Discover the role of technology, such as AquaSync, in providing real-time water usage data and improving water management practices in commercial settings.

Don’t miss this opportunity to learn about sustainable water practices and cost-effective operations.

Session Number: SS101
Monday, July 15, 2024:1:00 PM -1:30 PM

At BOMA International, Philadelphia.

More info at https://www.bomaconvention.org/BOMA2024/Public/SessionDetails.aspx?FromPage=Sessions.aspx&SessionID=3463&SessionDateID=140


by Leave a comment

Water Sewer Rate Increase!

As projected by our Ashokan staff, the NYC Water Board has increased water sewer rates by 4.4%. On June 6th, the NYC Water Board met to raise the water sewer rate to $11.63/HCF, effective 7/1/2023.

This represents the largest increase since Mike Bloomberg left office.

All other fixed rates will rise proportionately and the new MCP rate will be $1,184.44/dwelling unit.


by 2 Comments

NYC Water and Sewer Rate Increase

Today, the NYC Water Board met to consider the water and sewer rate for 2023-2024. The DEP is proposing a rate increase of 4.42%. The Water Board will conduct a series of public hearings in May, and announce their final decision at the end of the month. We at Ashokan anticipate that the final rate increase will be 4.4%, resulting in a rate of $11.64 per 100 cubic feet.

Let the games begin..


by 1 Comment

NYC DEP Water Bill Amnesty Program

Great news! At today’s NYC Water Board meeting, it was announced that the DEP will be extending the deadline for the Water Bill Amnesty Program. New Yorkers have until the end of May 2023 to submit an application. The Amnesty Program offers customers up to 100% forgiveness of accrued interest if they pay all or part of their outstanding debt and enter into a payment agreement. Payment can be made online or in-person with the DEP. 

To learn more about the Amnesty Program, click here: 

We encourage anyone you know who may be behind on their water bill to take advantage of this offer. Once it is over, the DEP will begin aggressively pursuing enforcement actions against delinquent accounts that did not take advantage of the amnesty. The application is easy, but if you need help, please contact Ashokan to consult with our auditor
Dov Vinar at 718-307-1242.


by 3 Comments

NYC Water and Sewer Rates Go Up by 4.9%

NYC is joining the rest of the country in promoting inflation.

On June 6th, the Water Board met to raise water rates by 4.9%, effective July 1st. This may surprise New Yorkers who have grown accustomed to minimal increases during the de Blasio administration.

The new rate will be $4.30 for water and $6.84 for sewer, for a total of $11.14.

We expect the 2023 increase to be even larger, spurred by high interest rates on the Water Board’s huge deb load.

June 6, 2022 Meeting Materials – https://www1.nyc.gov/assets/nycwaterboard/downloads/pdf/public_notices/wb-meeting-materials-6-6-22.pdf


by Leave a comment

NYC Water and Sewer Rate Increase

    The DEP held a public water board meeting on Friday April 29th and proposed a 4.9% water rate increase, citing lower consumption and water bills not being paid. Consumers will be shocked, as there has been minimal increases in recent years, and this would be the LARGEST increase that we have seen in some time. We predict that the DEP will reduce the increase from 4.9% to 4.7%.

    The meeting also included measures to increase the late payment fee, and an increase in capital construction funding by 21%. There will be public hearings held in the coming months with rate updates and revisions for NYC.


    by 1 Comment

    Good News: Low-income families will receive assistance paying water bills

    Governor Kathy Hochul announced that $69.8 million in federal funds will be made available to support low-income New Yorkers in paying past-due bills for drinking water and wastewater. The Low-Income Household Water Assistance Program (LIHWAP), provides eligible applicants with “up to $2,500 for drinking water arrears and $2,500 for wastewater arrears to help them avoid service interruptions when the moratorium on shutoffs expires next month.”

    This initiative will assist approximately 105,000 homes within New York.

    According to Governor Hochul, the program was created to help struggling New Yorkers recover from the pandemic. Anyone who is interested can simply apply online.

    Ashokan Water Services Contributed to this report


    by Leave a comment

    Kathryn Garcia – The Environmental Candidate

    New York City mayoral candidate Kathryn Garcia

    With the Democratic Mayoral primaries fast approaching, we at Ashokan Water have environmental concerns on the forefront of our minds. While many of the candidates have taken the time to address the environmental issues facing the City; none are as well versed with the issues as Kathryn Garcia. Ms. Garcia has spent her career within government working on the city’s largest environmental issues. Her work for our City speaks for itself.  Having held several positions in the NYC Department of Environmental Protection under Mayor Bloomberg, Kathryn Garcia was tasked with overseeing The Bureau of Water Supply, the Bureau of Water and Sewer Operations, and the Bureau of Wastewater Treatment. In later years, Ms. Garcia went on to become the Commissioner of the NYC Department of Sanitation where she again tackled the city’s environmental issues. Garcia helped to pass the city’s waste equity law (in 2018) helping distribute the waste burden on the city’s communities equally and not more heavily on lower income communities as had previously been the case. 

    The change that Kathryn Garcia has implemented in our city proves that she truly understands and cares about environmental protection and conservation within our city. Other candidates speak about the environment, but Garcia is a true technocrat, and clearly the environmental candidate to rally behind.


    by Leave a comment

    Why the Taste of NYC Water May Change in 2022

    Our friend Charles Sturcken of the DEP recently explained why water tastes different in different parts of New York City, and why the taste may change in 2022.

    Neighborhoods in New York City receive their drinking water from reservoirs of the Catskill System, Croton System, Delaware System, or a combination of the three systems. The chemistry of each water source is different because of the underlying geology that surrounds our reservoirs in the Catskills and the Hudson Valley. Differences in bedrock and soil affect pH, alkalinity, calcium content and other chemical characteristics of our drinking water. Water consumers will generally not notice these small differences. However, those who use New York City water to operate industrial equipment and mechanical systems might notice that changes in water chemistry require adjustments to their treatment systems, maintenance regiments and other upkeep routines.

    Croton Distribution into Manhattan & Bronx with Pumping to Queens
    A map of where different water sources supply different neighborhoods in New York City.

    From the end of May until October, the DEP expects the reservoir and distribution systems to be in their normal operating condition. That configuration will likely change in October when the DEP shuts the Catskill Aqueduct for the final year of a rehabilitation project that will keep the century-old aqueduct in good working order for the next 100 years. Continued updates of the water distribution maps and other information can be found at https://www1.nyc.gov/site/dep/water/current-water-distribution.page .


    by 1 Comment

    NYC Water Board Announces Rate And Interest Increase Effective July 1st, 2021

    The New York City Water Board met to propose changes to the Water & Sewer Rate Schedule to be effective July 1st, 2021. The meeting took place via teleconference on Monday May 10th at 9 AM, and was attended by Board Members Alfonso Carney, Dr. Demetrius Carolina, Sr., Evelyn Fernandez-Ketcham, Adam Freed, Jonathan Goldin, Jukay Hsu, and Arlene Shaw.

    One Student's Debt | University of Virginia School of Law
    Water Board Member Alfonso Carney

    The Board announced that rates would increase by 2.76%, after years with no increase. The rate increase wasn’t unexpected, as the DEP has incurred additional cost due to Covid while consumption dropped reducing revenue. it As expected, for the eighth year in a row the deadline to file paperwork for the Multi-family Conservation Program was extended once again. This time they blamed the extension on Covid.

    The most significant financial change announced was that the interest rates for late payments involving certain properties would increase from 5% to 18%. According to the Board, a two-tier interest rate had been in effect based upon the valuation of the property, but the 5% rate was the only one that was enforceable due to computer program limitations. With the upcoming launch of new software, the DEP is now able to apply the 18% interest rate to certain properties, as well as keep the 5% rate for others.

    Two public hearings will be held on June 1st and 2nd at 12 PM and 6 PM, respectively, via conference call. Interested parties can call (347) 921-5612 with the access code: 107 181 687, or email comments to nycwaterboard@dep.nyc.gov by 4 PM the day before the hearing.

    Not bad news for this crazy year.