New York City DEP continues to take steps towards improving upon the infrastructure of the NYC sewer system with a new monitoring system. The city is installing monitoring sensors under the sewer manhole covers which will give an alert in the event that there is abnormally high flow in the sewer pipes.
The city has installed over twenty sensors as part of their first round evaluations; the testing is taking place in Brooklyn, Queens and Staten Island. They will continue to analyze and make improvements with the goal of installing another twenty manhole sensors in the beginning of 2013.
The city has selected certain areas in queens such as Flushing, Jamaica, St. Albans and the Rockaway’s after analyzing the history of complaints in these areas.
The sewer monitoring sensors will send a signal when elevated flows are detected, the DEP city sewer crews will be dispatched to take precautionary measures to avoid the problem gets worst. The overall goal is to improve upon precautionary maintenance, make repairs to the sewer line before it becomes an emergency and to avoid overall sewer flooding in the event of a heavy rain
The monitoring system installed on the city sewer line manhole covers was funded through a $300,000 capital investment looking to get best usage of the city sewer systems.
A Brief History of the New York City Department of Environmental Protection
Courtesy of Wikipedia
The New York City Department of Environmental Protection (NYCDEP) manages the city’s water supply, providing more than 1.1 billion US gallons (4,200,000 m3) of water each day to more than 9 million residents throughout New York State through a complex network of nineteen reservoirs, three controlled lakes and 6,200 miles (10,000 km) of water pipes, tunnels and aqueducts. The DEP is also responsible for managing the city’s combined sewer system, which carries both storm water runoff and sanitary waste, and fourteen sewage treatment plants located throughout the city. The DEP carries out federal Clean Water Act rules and regulations, handles hazardous materials emergencies and toxic site remediation, oversees asbestos monitoring and removal, enforces the city’s air and noise codes, bills and collects on city water and sewer accounts, and manages citywide water conservation programs.
Emily Lloyd was the commissioner of the Department of Environmental Protection until resigning in 2008. On November 30, 2009, New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg appointed Caswell F. Holloway to be the new commissioner of NYCDEP. Following Holloway’s appointment as the new NYC Deputy Mayor for Operations, Mayor Bloomberg appointed Carter H. Strickland, Jr. to be the new commissioner of NYCDEP on August 17, 2011.
Other former commissioners include: Frank McArdle (1978-81), Joe McGough (1982-86), Harvey Schultz (1986-89), Albert Appleton (1990-93), Marilyn Gerber (1994-96), Joel Miele (1996-2002), and Christopher Ward (2002-04)
Drinking water
NYCDEP manages three upstate supply systems to provide the city’s drinking water: the Croton system, the Catskill system, and the Delaware system. The overall distribution system has a storage capacity of 550 billion US gallons (2.1×109 m3) and provides over 1.2 billion US gallons (4,500,000 m3) per day of high quality drinking water to more than eight million city residents and another one million users in four upstate counties bordering on the water supply system. The distribution system is made up of an extensive grid of water mains stretching approximately 6,500 miles (10,500 km).
Wastewater treatment
The city’s wastewater is collected through an extensive grid of sewer pipes of various sizes and stretching over 6,600 miles (10,600 km). The Bureau of Wastewater Treatment operates 14 water pollution control plants treating and average of 1.5 billion US gallons (5,700,000 m3) of wastewater a day; 89 wastewater pump stations: 8 dewatering facilities; and 490 sewer regulators.
