Viewing NYC Articles Categorized Under Sewers

[WATCH] NYC Revealed: How NYC’s Sewage System Treats 1.3 Billion Gallons Of Wastewater

2022-06-03T16:00:00-04:00

Underneath the ground of New York's fabled streets exists a vast network of pipes that make up the city's sewer system. New Yorkers create, on average, 1.3 billion gallons of wastewater per day that makes its way through these 7,500 miles of pipes.

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New York City Department of Environmental Protection Wages a War on "Fatbergs"

2019-02-26T11:00:00-05:00

Cooking grease…wet wipes…and lots of other stuff…get flushed down the sewers creating fatbergs that clog pipes and drain wallets. You can keep things running smoothly by properly disposing of these items.

Check out the New York City Department of Environmental Protection's new website, fatbergfree.nyc, to learn more.

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NYC Environmental Protection Asks Queens and Brooklyn to "Wait" on Flushing Toilet During Storms

2018-03-14T16:30:00-04:00

Because most parts of Brooklyn and Queens use a combined sewer that can overflow and dump raw sewage into the waterways, the New York City Department of Environmental Protection is asking residents to "Wait..."

Why Wait…? Whenever we do laundry, shower, wash dishes, or flush the toilet, the water we use goes down the drain and into the sewer. But when there’s a heavy rain storm, that wastewater has to share the sewer with LOTS of rain water. On those days, our sewers can fill to capacity and a mix of wastewater and rain water can end up going into our waterways. Waiting to use water during a heavy rain storm helps to keep our waterways clean for our community and wildlife!

The City will send out text messages when it is time to "wait...", so you know exactly when to stop flushing, and when you can start again. Check out the program page to read more about the campaign.

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Friday, March 10th, 2017, Good Morning!

2017-03-10T09:13:01-05:00

Good morning! Wishing you a happy Friday, March 10th, 2017 from all of us at Viewing NYC!

Here's what the weather looks like in the City right now.

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This Disgusting Video Shows Why Newtown Creek Between Brooklyn and Queens is an EPA Superfund Site [NSFW]

2017-03-06T16:30:00-05:00

Newtown Creek is an oft-forgotten waterway that splits Greenpoint and Long Island City, forming a natural divide between the northmost part of Brooklyn and westmost part of Queens. The creek is also one of the EPA Superfund sites, a list of the nation's most severely polluted and toxic sites that are endangering humans, wildlife and plants in their respective regions.

In this truly disgusting video from the Newtown Creek Alliance, you can see how a little rain runoff in the combined sewer system will send raw sewage into the waters.

Each year over 1 billion gallons of untreated sewage and street runoff are discharged into the stagnant waters of Newtown Creek, the Brooklyn/Queens waterway border.

Marked NSFW for the video's puke factor, but really the tag should be NSFA -- not safe for anyone.

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Here's What Raw Sewage Dumping Into Newtown Creek Looks Like [NSFW]

2016-05-18T10:39:41-04:00

Newtown Creek is an oft-forgotten waterway that splits Greenpoint and Long Island City, forming a natural divide between the northmost part of Brooklyn and westmost part of Queens.

The creek is also one of the EPA Superfund sites, a list of the nation's most severely polluted and toxic sites that are endangering humans, wildlife and plants in their respective regions.

In this video from the Newtown Creek Alliance on Facebook, you can see how a little rain runoff in the combined sewer system will send raw sewage into the waters.

We talk a lot about #cso but images say so much more. This is what untreated #sewage discharging into #newtowncreek looks like. At what point do we say enough is enough and demand that our agencies and elected representatives invest appropriately in wastewater infrastructure so that we don't dump billions of gallons of sewage into #nyharbor and violate the #cleanwateract on a regular basis?

Marked NSFW for the video's puke factor, but really the tag should be NSFA -- not safe for anyone.

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Filmmaker Finds Indian Origin of New York City's Famous Made in India Manhole Covers

2015-11-09T12:52:19-05:00

Cast in India is an amazing documentary from New York filmmaker Natasha Raheja which follows the iconic New York City manhole covers labeled Made in India all the way back to the source in, of course, India.

Iconic and ubiquitous, thousands of manhole covers dot the streets of New York City. Enlivening the everyday objects around us, this short documentary is a glimpse of the working lives of the men behind the manhole covers in New York City.

Check out the documentary webpage to see how you can watch the full documentary.

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Brief History of Some of New York City's Varied and Detailed Manhole Covers

2015-11-07T08:39:58-05:00

Astoria's Mitch Waxman is a historian with the Newtown Creek Alliance and knows his stuff when it comes to NYC history.

A recent article on his excellent blog The Newtown Pentacle takes a look at some of the more interesting manhole covers seen throughout the City, and talks a little bit about its history.

The history of NYC can literally be found right there beneath your feet, especially once you learn how to read the signs and sigils left behind by earlier generations. Access, or Manhole covers, are everywhere. Research has shown that Federal Roadway regulations state a preference for State and Local governments to either replace an access cover with an exact copy from the original foundry, or just leave the old one in place. This means, since most of these things were put in place before the World Wars of the early 20th century, that there are iron or steel discs adorning the “via publica” which can tell the tale of Municpal organization, consolidation, dissolution, and indeed gentrification scattered about.

Check out the full article to learn more about any/all of these covers.

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Watch: Miles of Steam Pipes Snake Beneath New York, Running the City

2015-10-25T08:13:00-04:00

The New York Times' Living City series recently explored the history and future of the nearly 105 miles of steam pipes running under the City.

The film tours the East 14th Street Consolidated Edison cogeneration plant, where 55 percent of the city’s steam is produced, and looks at the underbelly of some of New York’s most recent buildings to see how steam is incorporated into modern urban planning and design.

Read through the accompanying article for more on the City's steam pipe network.

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