This week, visitors to Bryant Park interacted with 11 shiny, silvery sculptures modeled after real water droplets.
The droplets were located at the Fountain Terrace on the park’s west side, and were part of “Every Drop Counts,” a public art installation that looked like a mini garden with artificial hills and flowers. It showcased how water is used on a large scale – for example, in food production and AI development. The exhibit was hosted by Ecolab, a global company that develops and sells products to purify and sanitize water for a variety of industries.
The timing of the installation was no accident and coincided with Climate Week in New York City, an annual event held in partnership with the United Nations General Assembly to gather global leaders across multiple sectors of society to take action against climate change.
Park goers could touch the droplets, read facts about water on each of them and slide down the hills. The droplets, which were larger than the size of a basketball, were made of hand blown acrylic with vaporized metal on the inside for the mirroring effect. Annie Saunders, the designer hired for “Every Drop Counts,” said the experience was intended to encourage people to think about what their lives would be like without water.
“Water means everything to all of us,” Saunders said, adding that the installation is also supposed to be a call to action, prompting people to think about the ways each individual can conserve this important resource.
According to the United Nations, one in four people in the world don’t have access to clean drinking water. NYC’s water supply system provides more than a billion gallons of safe, high-quality drinking water every day to more than 8.8 million residents, according to 2023 data from NYC Department of Environmental Protection. However, more than 2 million Americans live in homes without running water or basic plumbing across the country, according to the United States Mission to the United Nations.
Arturo Dryjanski, 34, who is originally from Mexico and works in tourism, said the exhibition has served as a reminder of how important water is for everyone and everything, including nature, how various products are created and how people nurture their bodies.
“I work in tourism and everywhere I go, water is what makes the most difference in the places you visit,” Dryjanski said. “I think water is maybe the natural resource that connects us the most with the world.”
While some saw the exhibition by chance, Roxana Zelaya, 67, is visiting from El Salvador and visited the exhibition with her daughter and grandchildren, who live on Roosevelt Island, because they saw a TikTok video about it. She said she liked the way the installation showed the importance of water conservation.
“Without water we wouldn’t be able to survive on Earth,” she said. “We have to be mindful of how we use it.”
Her 9-year-old granddaughter, Daniela Barraza, added, “Don’t waste it because we could lose it all.”
