126 CONSERVATION OF GROUND WATER 



tion which might replenish the ground-water reservoir 

 under natural conditions goes instead to storm sewers and 

 quickly out to sea. It is estimated that about 35 million gal- 

 lons a day of potential recharge is thus rejected in Brooklyn, 

 and probably an equal amount is lost to the ground-water 

 reservoir in neighboring Queens borough. Currently the 

 pumpage in Brooklyn and Queens (less than 100 million 

 gallons a day, of which perhaps a third is returned through 

 recharge wells) is adjusted to this urban condition, and 

 water levels are rising appreciably. Indeed, Brooklyn has 

 made several adjustments to ground-water conditions in 

 recent years. Many wells that pump salt water are used only 

 for cooling or air conditioning, and the salinity is detrimen- 

 tal only to the equipment through which the water circu- 

 lates. The St. George Hotel in downtown Brooklyn, after 

 drilling wells and developing salt water, has turned the situ- 

 ation to advantage in advertisements of its salt-water swim- 

 ming pool. The depressed water table has permitted 

 construction of basements and subways at levels that will 

 invite seepage if the water table recovers its position of four 

 decades ago. 



Throughout Brooklyn's ground-water travails, the Long 

 Island ground-water reservoir has been discharging more 

 than 700 million gallons a day unused into the ocean, and 

 only a very small amount has been diverted toward the cone 

 of depression at the west end of the island. In 1950, it is 

 estimated that not more than 300 million gallons of ground 

 water a day was used (including 100 million for New 

 York City during its shortage), and of that more than 120 

 million gallons was returned to the reservoir through re- 

 charge wells and basins. In addition, the treated sewage 

 effluent from many communities in central Nassau County 

 goes into the ground-water reservoir. The county-wide 

 sewer system now under construction will instead dump 

 that water directly into the ocean, which appears to repre- 

 sent a step backward in ground-water conservation. 



