RIOC Shuts Down All Roosevelt Island Drinking Water Fountains For Possible Contamination After Receiving Report By Community Activist Frank Farance Of Al Lewis Playground Fountain Connection To Capobianco Field Irrigation System

Roosevelt Island Operating Corp (RIOC) Public Information Officer Alonza Robertson reports:

The Roosevelt Island Operating Corporation (RIOC) announced Friday that it will shut down drinking water fountains on the Island while it investigates potential water source line issues.

RIOC thanks Island resident Frank Farance for sharing his concerns about the fountains with RIOC.

Independent consultants have been enlisted to assist RIOC with its review.

 Image From Frank Farance

Earlier today, Roosevelt Island community activist Frank Farance posted this comment about possible contamination at Roosevelt Island water fountains.

More info on Cat Sanctuary water shut off and eventual restoration here.

Stay tuned for updates.

UPDATE 7/10 - RIOC President Susan Rosenthal's Community report today addresses the water fountain contamination subject:

WATER FOUNTAINS

Healthy Building International Inc. has been retained by the Roosevelt Island Operating Corporation (RIOC) to conduct water sampling and analysis at several drinking water fountain locations in parks and playgrounds across Roosevelt Island, RIOC President and CEO Susan Rosenthal said Tuesday.

The tests are designed to provide a comprehensive analysis of the water and to confirm its acceptability for consumption. The samples will be compared with the relevant federal Department of Environmental Protection (EPA) contaminant levels of microbials, metals and inorganic substances.

A plumbing engineer selected from RIOC’s newly formed A&E (Architectural and Engineering) Services committee (a panel of qualified, multi-disciplined architects and engineers) will help RIOC officials interpret the results, draft and consider potential solutions. The water analysis and a downstream review is focused on each specific point of water line connection to each actual fountain or public use spigot or valve.

RIOC announced last Friday that it was immediately shutting down water fountains after concerns, raised by Roosevelt Island resident Frank Farance about potential water source lines, prompted the agency to schedule the analysis.

“As-built drawings” – the final set of drawings a contractor files to document work, changes, construction processes and the location of all elements of the work completed and maintained - were not archived for work at all the parks and playgrounds built in the early 1970s and maintained thereafter. Those drawings document whether the playground fountains are connected to the irrigation lines or domestic water lines in the area. Without the “as-built” drawings for the other drinking fountains on the Island, RIOC cannot be certain about the connection source of all the other fountains.

RIOC had the “as-builts” for Southpoint Park’s drinking fountain from 2010 and can verify that the water is from its domestic line not the park’s irrigation system.

It was revealed during a recent water use disagreement with Wildlife Freedom Foundation (WFF), which runs cat sanctuaries on the Island, that the WFF water hose was using an irrigation line connection for its Southpoint sanctuary. (WFF has since said it was willing to continue to use “not potable,” irrigation water for their Southpoint sanctuary).

In addition to this project, The A&E services committee is expected to help RIOC manage capital projects, infrastructure maintenance and repairs – including the Sportspark renovations, the FDR Hope Memorial, the Firefighters Field comfort station/bathroom construction, future Lighthouse renovations, elevator consultant and Motorgate repairs - more efficiently and simply put, “get things done more quickly,” Rosenthal said....