Josh Eichen and Korin Tangtrakul

GeoNYC – 2/9/2015

LOVE STINKS!

Project History Sewers 101 Scope of Work and Process Final Products!

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Introduction

Understanding the NYC Sewer System

HURRICANE SANDY – RED HOOK Project History: Red Hook

•  Street flooding and sewer backups impacted this area

•  Through stakeholder interviews, came to realize these issues were not isolated to Hurricane Sandy!

CONSISTENT ISSUES IN RED HOOK Project History: Red Hook

CONSISTENT ISSUES IN RED HOOK Project History: Red Hook

Investigation of ways to validate these complaints led to 311 data

CONSISTENT ISSUES IN RED HOOK Project History: Red Hook

Overlays with topography and major sewer infrastructure led to a more complete picture of the way the system functions

SEPARATE SEWER SYSTEM Sewers 101

COMBINED SEWER SYSTEM Sewers 101

Sewers 101

70% About of the city’s sewershed area is combined

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Red Hook Sub-sewershedsOpen Sewer Atlas NYC, 2014

Source: NYC DCP, DEP [

openseweratlas.tumblr.com

Sewer TypeInterceptor

Flushing Tunnel

Sub-sewershedBond Lorraine

Columbia St Interceptor

North Sewer

RED HOOK SUB-SEWERSHEDS Sewers 101

To better understand the sewer system, we look at issues at the “sewershed” level and the “sub-sewershed” level

SEWERSHED ISSUES Sewers 101

WATER QUALITY IMPACT Sewers 101

CSOs brings excessive levels of nutrients causing algal blooms. When the nutrient load stops, the algae die and decompose, taking up dissolved oxygen in the water column in the process. Water bodies with low levels of dissolved oxygen cannot sustain aquatic life.  

Open Sewer Atlas Project Scope

LACK OF DATA!

WHAT IS OPEN SEWER ATLAS NYC?

Open Sewer Atlas NYC is an open data source for sewer infrastructure and sub-sewersheds or drainage areas of interceptor sewer lines for the priority sewersheds of CSO-problem areas.

Open Sewer Atlas Project Scope

An exercise of GIS analysis to demystify New York City’s sewer system

WHAT IS OPEN SEWER ATLAS NYC? Open Sewer Atlas Project Scope

Following the City’s Long Term Control Plans, OSANYC focuses on 5 waterbodies:

Gowanus Newtown Creek Alley Creek Bronx River Jamaica Bay

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Open Sewer Atlas Process

PROCESS •  Outreach to CBO’s •  Meetings and site visits in areas of interest •  Feedback on project •  Research sewersheds through publicly

available documents •  Production of materials

FINDINGS: GOWANUS CANAL

0 0.5 10.25Miles

Red Hook Sub-sewershedsOpen Sewer Atlas NYC, 2014

Source: NYC DCP, DEP [

openseweratlas.tumblr.com

Sewer TypeInterceptor

Flushing Tunnel

Sub-sewershedBond Lorraine

Columbia St Interceptor

North Sewer0 0.5 10.25

Miles

Red Hook Sub-sewersheds with Flushing Tunnel UpgradeOpen Sewer Atlas NYC, 2014

Source: NYC DCP, DEP [

openseweratlas.tumblr.com

Sewer TypeInterceptorFlushing Tunnel

Sub-sewershedBond LorraineColumbia St Interceptor

Columbia St Interceptor addition

North Sewer

Open Sewer Atlas Process

NEWTOWN CREEK

•  Treats 310 million gallons of wastewater a day!

•  Serves part of Manhattan, Brooklyn and Queens

•  Anaerobic digesters convert sewage to energy

•  Romantic Valentines Day tours

Open Sewer Atlas Process

The largest wastewater treatment plant

Open Sewer Atlas Process

FINDINGS: NEWTOWN CREEK The drainage area to the head of the creek is 4,000 acres! Is has the least circulation and discharges about 900 million gallons of CSO annually.

Open Sewer Atlas Process

PROCESS: BRONX RIVER Bronx River Alliance and Rocking the Boat are leading education sessions and awareness campaigns about the Bronx River

Open Sewer Atlas Process

FINDINGS: BRONX RIVER A citizen science study from EPA funding revealed: •  High enterococci levels

after rainfall •  High enterococci levels at

the West Chester county border during dry weather

•  Areas of low dissolved oxygen

Open Sewer Atlas Process

FINAL PRODUCTS! OSANYC Deliverables

OSANYC Deliverables

Drainage Areas

OSANYC Deliverables

311 Complaints

OSANYC Deliverables

Land Use

OSANYC Deliverables

FINAL PRODUCTS!

OSANYC WORKSHOP OSANYC Deliverables

QUESTIONS?

OPEN SEWER ATLAS NYC