The Foul Canal.

By Kennie Pichardo

The Gowanus Canal is Polluted.

If you visit the Gowanus Canal the first thing you would notice is that it really stinks and by the color of the water being green instead of blue you could tell it's really dirty.The problem is that it's really polluted, so polluted that nobody and go in the Canal because of the chemicals and diseases that are in side of the Canal. This is a problem because the Gowanus Canal has been polluted for over 100 years.

Problems the Gowanus is facing  

This old problem is still a problem because the government still hasn't found a way to clean the water. There is a history of pollution in the Gowanus Canal. For example, according to the New York Magazine, “In the mid-nineteenth century the Gowanus Canal served foundries, coal yards, and paint and ink factories.” This means that many of these factories may have been using the Canal as a dumping site.

What is In The Canal?

The Gowanus Canal has many different kinds of pollution such as toilet waste, sewage, coal tar, poisonous waste from factories, and believe it or not there are four diseases called Cholera, Typhoid, Typhus, and Gonorrhea. But the most thing polluting the water is coal tar because it's on the bottom of the Canal. Its also important to note that coal tar isn't just the only thing polluting the canal its sewage, toilet waste, poisonous waste, and four diseases.

Start Caring About It.

People should be concerned about water pollution in the Gowanus Canal because it's not just the Canal that the pollution is flowing through, Coney Island beach as well is polluted. Also, when people go swim in the beach what there actually swimming in sewage ,toilet waste, oil, poisonous waste and probably diseases. It's not even safe to swim in. For example, Christopher Swain had to put on special gear. According to New York magazine, Cholera, Typhoid, Typhus, Gonorrhea, they’ve all been found in the water. This shows that the water isnt safe to swim in.

Cleaning The Canal.

Some people and groups are trying to clean up the Gowanus Canal. For example according to “A brief history of slime”it state that “In 1911 they’ve installed a 6,200 ft underground tunnel with a seven foot propeller to flush fresh seawater” and it's currently still happening. Another good idea to clean up the Canal would be to add more underground tunnels. This would be a good idea because it's actually working.If we fixed the problem, our future would be better because we have cleaner water. People would be able to actually go in the Gowanus Canal not just people but animals too.