One problem with web-zombification is that we will most likely retain some vestiges of physical embodiment for at least the next 20 years. This means that even the most plugged-in folks will still occasionally feel the need to drink a glass of water and later expel waste. The drinking part means that humans will require clean, fresh water ready at hand. The waste part means that they will require even more water for flushing toilets, which is currently the most popular method for making sure the dirty turds and piss from billions of gross bodies continue to go somewhere far away (in this case – Greenpoint). Secondary uses of water, such as bathing, will most likely persist as well, though as zombification progresses it is likely that cleaning needs will diminish. New York City is one zombie zone that needs a lot of water.As of 2009, the City of New York as a whole was using just over one billion gallons of fresh water per day. The average individual in New York was using 125.8 gallons per day. That's more than 250 7-11 big gulps per person per day. This figure includes the fresh water coming out of our taps, but it also includes the sewage water sweeping our turds away to somewhere special and the water that washes our atrophied limbs. That waste water in turn goes into treatment facilities, which process more than 1.5 billion gallons daily.
Unlike pure, web-based knowledge, water doesn't just materialize before our eyes. It has to wend its way through an elaborate series of channels to reach our parched lips. It begins somewhere in nature, whatever that is, and then it moves through man-made infrastructures like aqueducts and pipelines and treatment facilities. Even the people of ancient Rome had marvelous aqueducts bringing them water. Here’s one aqueduct from times of yore:New York boasts one of the cleanest, most reliable water supplies in the world. Today, that water supply system, operated by city municipal authorities, has assets valued at over 25 billion dollars. As a point of reference, Coca Cola Company had a little over 26 billion dollars in assets in 2005. The more or less invisible system providing the people of New York City with water is roughly the size of the world's most recognized brand of soda.This municipal water system consists of three government entities charged with making sure rat piss isn't coming out of NYC taps. First, there's the New York Water Board. These are the folks who set the price of water for consumers in the city, and who then collect the water bills. If you don't pay your water bill, you will shrivel up and turn into a mummy. The Board sets rates for water once a year, with new rates becoming effective every July 1. For 2012, the rate is set at $3.17 per 100 cubic-feet – about 748 gallons – the city provides.Given estimated daily water consumption per person of 125 gallons, every New Yorker is paying about 53 cents per day for water. People who take long showers should obviously expect to pay more, and people who pee and poop outside should expect to pay less. This is why the Wilson Avenue L stop gets a green seal of approval. It does indeed smell like urine, and that means consumers are taking the opportunity to relieve themselves flush-free while they wait for the train. We can expect a new rate to come out on July 1 of this year, and it is all but guaranteed to be higher than the current $3.17. Even though total water consumption in New York City has decreased by about a third since 1979, prices have steadily risen.
Besides the Water Board, there's something called the New York City Municipal Water Finance Authority. These folks help keep the water supply system running by doing something called "issuing bonds." That sounds like a really un-Occupy thing to do, but in the fiscal year that began June 30, 2011 alone, they've managed to raise over 2.3 billion dollars to pay for keeping the water system running. This finance authority secures these funds to avoid the calamity of having the water system shut off, and it then pays back the bondholders over time with the revenues it gradually collects as people pay their water bills.While the Board and the Municipal Authority are the bean counters figuring out how much currency it should take to keep the people of New York from drying up, it's the NYC Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) that really manages the daily operations of the water supply. They protect the upstate water sources that feed the 1.2 billion gallons daily of clean drinking water used in New York City. On top of that, the DEP operates the 14 water pollution control plants that treat the 1.5 billion gallons daily of wastewater flushed down New York toilets or drained out of New York streets.Crucially, the NYC DEP has its own police force to put polluters in check. As of May 22nd of this year, if a DEP officer catches you with your car idling in a school zone, he will bust you and give you a ticket for $350.
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Ancient Roman aqueduct
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