In a fascinating New York Times article, the detailed work that goes into maintaining New York City's underground infrastructure for electricity, telecommunications, drinking water, steam, natural gas and wastewater is described.

For the city's drinking water and wastewater, the article states, "The approximately 6,800-mile-long network of mostly iron and steel pipes, some of which are a century old, distributes water that has wended its way down from upstate...Wastewater is carried through about 7,500 miles of pipes and tunnels, some of which were placed in the ground more than 100 years ago."

As is mentioned, the vast network of pipes used to carry the city's drinking water and wastewater is aging. Check out DrinkTap's Water Infrastructure webpage for more information on this topic.