Today I’m going to talk about something extremely random: sewer diving.
First of all, what is a manhole? You’ve probably walked past hundreds of them without thinking about it. A manhole is basically an access point to underground systems, including sewers and utilities. Let’s say you decided to flush a bag of chips down the toilet. First of all, please don’t do that. It is probably terrible for your pipes. But whatever goes down your drain eventually connects to this enormous underground system of pipes running beneath the city.
And apparently, people actually go down there.
Recently in New York City, there have been videos of people climbing out of manholes in the middle of the night. They come out wearing chest waders and headlamps, pull themselves onto the sidewalk, put the giant manhole cover back into place, and then just walk away like absolutely nothing happened.
That immediately makes me ask one question: Why?
Why would anyone voluntarily climb into a sewer?
A sewer is definitely not some luxury underground hotel. Imagine a giant hollow tube that you can walk through. Some parts are big enough to stand inside, while other sections can be extremely narrow and claustrophobic. There is wastewater flowing through it, it smells horrible, and there can be dangerous gases, flooding, and all kinds of things that I definitely would not recommend touching, drinking, or catching if they happen to fall past you.
Basically, it is disgusting.
So why are people spending money on chest waders, helmets, headlamps, and other equipment just so they can climb into one?
There are a few possible explanations.
The first theory is vandalism or messing with infrastructure. Manholes do not only lead to sewage pipes. Some also provide access to underground utilities and equipment. So theoretically, somebody could go underground to damage something, spray-paint graffiti, or interfere with infrastructure. There does not seem to be evidence that this is what these particular people were doing, but it is one possibility people worry about.
The second explanation is probably the most obvious one: money.
Maybe they are looking for valuables. Maybe they are looking for old copper wires that could be removed and sold. That sounds slightly more reasonable, because copper actually has value.
But here is the problem.
According to a New York Times article I read, a veteran urban explorer named Steve Duncan has gone into New York sewers more than 100 times. Do you know what the most valuable thing he ever found was?
An expired credit card.
That’s it.
Not a diamond. Not $10,000. Not a bag of gold.
An expired credit card.
And when you think about it, that actually makes sense. If you have a hundred-dollar bill in your hand, you are probably not going to walk over to your toilet and say, “You know what? I don’t need this anymore,” and flush it.
Of course, people accidentally lose things. A coin or a piece of jewelry could somehow end up underground. But if your plan is to make money, spending hundreds of dollars on waterproof equipment and then wandering through disgusting sewer water hoping to find treasure seems like one of the least efficient businesses ever invented.
Copper wires are a little more believable. Some officials have said scavengers might be looking for old copper underground. But even that has not been proven to explain the people in these recent videos.
And then we get to the more sinister theories.
People online have suggested everything from criminal activity to secret groups operating underground. Could people use tunnels to hide illegal activity? Possibly. Could there be some mysterious underground cult meeting beneath Manhattan? I guess technically I cannot prove there isn’t one.
But there is also no evidence that there is.
Personally, I think the most realistic explanations are much simpler. Some people may be trying to make money, especially from copper. Others may simply be urban explorers who enjoy going into places that normal people are not supposed to enter.
And honestly, that might be the weirdest explanation of all.
Imagine waking up one morning and thinking, “What should I do tonight? Watch a movie? Play a game? Maybe get some food?”
No.
“I think I’ll climb into the New York City sewer system.”
I still feel like there might be something more going on, especially because some of the people in the videos look very experienced. They have proper equipment, they know how to move through the tunnels, and they can lift these extremely heavy manhole covers like they have done it before.
But right now, nobody really knows.
And maybe that is exactly why the story is so interesting.
Thousands of people walk across New York City every day, while underneath them is an enormous hidden world of tunnels. And every once in a while, somebody opens a metal cover, climbs out of that underground world, closes it behind them, and disappears into the city.
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