The Waterpod: life on a New York boat

This is the Waterpod™.

If you live in New York—or if you’re a sustainability geek—you probably heard about this highly ambitious project: 5 artists living on a barge on the waterways of New York, creating their own food, water and shelter in a demonstration of sustainable technology. The Waterpod visited each borough of New York, hosting events and offering free demonstrations and information to all visitors.

Cool stuff, at least in theory. Apocalypse enthusiasts and Kevin Costner fans alike have long toyed with the idea of living on the water; finally, somebody (one Mary Mattingly) got up the gumption to try it. And as it prepared to launch this spring, everyone from Discover to Inhabitat was singing its praises.

However, by the time I arrived in NY, the project had gotten some mixed press. Questions of the barge’s true sustainability were rampant—and my interest was piqued.

I tried to find information on the technical details via the project’s website, but only found a lot of artist-speak and a long James Joyce quote about water. What was the Waterpod exactly, and was it actually a viable living space—or just a high-concept artpiece created by ambitious amateurs?

The answer, not surprisingly, was a little of both. What I found at the Waterpod was not so much a fully-functioning project as a demonstration of possibility. Maybe it doesn’t work perfectly, but it offers fantastic food for thought and a lot of inspiration.

hydroponic and water filtration systems, and living quarters

The Grand Tour

Well, first off: it’s cramped. The barge is 3,000 square feet, most of which is put to use. Unfortunately, that leaves precious little walking space between the two geodesic domes, three-room living quarters, gardens, water systems, outhouse, shower and kitchen.

The living quarters are built of recycled lumber and repurposed poly/vinyl banners, and mounted with solar panels. Each tiny bedroom houses two hardy souls.

Directly opposite the living quarters is an open dome that supports a hydroponic drip system and three bins (repurposed maple-syrup containers) that filter greywater for reuse in the gardens.

Derek Hunter lives here temporarily with his wife Mira; both were involved in the conception and design of the Waterpod

Garden beds line three sides of the barge, and are planted with eggplants, potatoes, kale, squash, beans, maize, tomatoes, celery, and other good veggies. The foliage masks a 1550-gallon water cistern, and forms a perimeter around the large, covered meeting dome. Behind the dome is a tiny chicken coop housing four grain-fed hens.

And way off in the back are the kitchen and a composting toilet.

It’s pretty amazing, really: this barge holds everything one would need to survive off the grid—and because it’s on a boat, it’s mobile and cheaper than land. The space is designed beautifully, with excellent use of materials; it incorporates and showcases some very innovative technology. That said, there are some pretty obvious problems with the systems as they are.

Problems and shortcomings

1. Chickens.

There are five humans living on the barge, four chickens, and no other significant source of protein. Last I heard, chickens lay once a day at most; that means everybody on this boat is getting at most 40g of protein a week from eggs. Recommended protein intake for an adult male is 56g per day, or 392g a week.

That’s a pretty big gap, which I doubt the Waterpod’s bean plants are productive enough to fill. And let’s be honest: how many people would stick to a bean-heavy diet, while sharing a tiny and badly-ventilated bedroom, when an entire city full of restaurants surrounds them? My guess is that Waterpod residents indulge in the occasional storebought Tofurky.

garden bed, and pedal-powered generator!

2. Garden.

It was peak growing season when I visited, but the gardens were noticeably bare. Alison Ward, a resident and creator, told me they’d just thinned areas that were getting overgrown. She marched me around to every corner of the garden beds, which held a surprising amount of food. But is it enough for five adults?

“I cook from the garden every night,” Alison told me. And I believed her: she seems like the kind of chick that can make a lot out of a little. Still, I wouldn’t be surprised if the Waterpod residents were occasionally sneaking off for a piece of fruit, a glass of milk, or any well-rounded, non-eggplant-based meal.

3. WATER.

The water situation is disturbing. “It’s got a bad taste,” Alison said. The Waterpod catches sone rainwater—but not a lot—from the roof of the living quarters. Drinking water runs to and from the cistern through a clear tube, which is growing algae. Not safe. In fact, the demonstration drinking-water sample was pretty disgusting:

The brown thing is a siphon tube, but the rest is nasty gunk

4. Comfort.

Let’s be honest, the Waterpod isn’t very livable. There’s hardly enough space to walk around, and no place to retreat and be alone. The bedrooms are hot in summer and, if they even withstand winter weather, will probably be freezing cold. The chicken coop can’t be closed, which means frozen birds. And with no apparent food storage, there’s no way to survive the winter months.

composting toilet and kitchen area—yes, they’re adjacent

Those are just the most evident problems with the project. However, most of these issues could be addressed simply by reducing the number of people crammed onto the barge. Five seems like a lot; this space would be perfect for a family of two or three. Replace the humans with a few more chickens and a goat, and make the buildings livable in winter (or move the barge to a warmer climate), and you’ve got a chance of survival.

But It Doesn’t Suck

Okay, so it ain’t perfect. Still, very few of us could do better: I certainly couldn’t. And the Waterpod serves an important function, as a living demonstration of sustainability that’s accessible to even the most urban of urbanites.

Ultimately, anyone wishing to move off-grid could learn a lot from projects like this one: even its mistakes are educational. And the idea of living on the water (a concept echoed at events like the Swimming Cities of Serenissima and Ephemerisle, among others) is revolutionary and relevant in our world of shrinking real estate and flooded cities.

The Waterpod’s tour of New York is finished now, but Mary Mattingly, Ian Daniel and other residents are still giving talks and participating in discussions of sustainability in the New York area. If you’re interested in learning more, get involved! There’s lots to learn, and (as the Waterpod project demonstrates) plenty more work to be done before we can attain true sustainability in our living systems.

Still have questions? See my Waterpod set on Flickr for more photos, including detailed explanations of systems.