How is it possible that very large cities, such as NYC or Tokyo, are able to supply fresh water to the whole city? How does the water supply not run out?
In: Technology
Pumping more water, drilling more wells. NYC is very conveniently located on the Hudson River, which provides more than ample supply itself.
NYC’s water comes from large reservoirs located upstate, meaning in the areas of New York State located north of NYC itself. Those reservoirs are up to 125 miles away and deliver over a billion gallons a day to the 9M+ residents of the city. Many people consider the high quality of the water to be one of the reasons that bagels and pizza in NYC are so delicious and there are some reports that shops and restaurants outside the city will even have the water sent to them so that such quality of flavor can be available to NYC transplants looking for their bagel and pizza “fix” in areas such as Vegas and parts of Florida! I lived in NYC for 14 years and never felt any desire to drink bottled water. [wiki](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_York_City_water_supply_system)
You may not see it from a map or satellite, but there are natural rivers that run through Tokyo that the city has been built on top of. The rivers are still there, they’re just underground. Also Japan get some serious monsoon rains and Tokyo built a [massive flood system](https://www.nytimes.com/2017/10/06/climate/tokyo-floods.html). I don’t think the flood system itself is used as a water supply, but the rains fill up massive water reservoirs that are both above and underground. This is what supplies water to a city.
Well, there is a good reason ppl are warning that natural resources will run out in a few generations. But in terms of water, central Asia is first.
Cities get built where there’s water available. Very big cities get built where there is *lots*. And if their growth begins to outstrip the water supply, it’s a pretty good bet they won’t get much bigger.
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