New York Water--still precious in an Emergency

The great news that New York is getting two state of the art "Super" Fire Boats is a reminder of how deeply dependant we are on reliable water in the event of an emergency.

It seems ridiculous to state that water is a problem on an island surrounded by it, but the fact of the matter is that water has always been a problem in New York.

New York's current water system is designed to bring drinking water from The Catskills to the millions of people inhabiting the densely populated Island of Manhattan and the Boroughs. That part of it works fine. The system also works fine for fighting fires if they occur one at a time and don't get too big or last too long. In more than one possible scenario the system can be overwhelmed and the water pressure could drop below critical levels. Water would then need to be pumped from the rivers, pumped to the location and then pumped up, in the case of a high rise, to the fire.


That's where New York's future "Super-Boats" would come into play. They can pump as much as 50,000 gallons per minute over a distance as great as five miles. The only question remaining is; Are two of these "Super Boats" enough?