A sewer backup is a real health problem stemming from harmful bacteria carried in the sewage. It is not an uncommon problem in certain areas and we should all be prepared for the possibility of a sewage backup. It is particularly common in condominiums and apartments with outdated sewer systems where the residents on the bottom floor get the resulting sewage backup of the upper floors. This is a serious concern that effects many people, particularly those who may be home-bound or have existing serious health problems. Here are some ways to mediate potential health hazards if your sewer system White Plains backs up.
1)Turn off all power to eliminate electrical hazards. 2) Keep children and pets away from the area. 3) Thoroughly clean the contaminated area. Use rubber gloves and disinfectants. 4)Discard saturated wall-to-wall carpet and pad; clean all hard surfaces with hot water and soap, then rinse with a bleach solution of one tablespoon of household bleach to one gallon of water. 5) Finally, call your local Westchester County plumber or sewer repair specialists ASAP!
Tuesday, June 29, 2010
How to Prevent Sewer Backups
Here are some useful tips to keep your New York home sewer system from backing up. Your home's side sewer runs from the house to the mainline sewer in the street (or the septic tank). Maintaining the sewer system is the City's responsibility. Maintaining the side sewer is the owner's responsibility.
Keep roots or other obstructions from blocking your home's side sewer. If you need repairs for a side sewer backup, look under "Westchester County Plumbing, Drains & Sewer Cleaning" in The Yellow Pages. If there is a heavy storm and sewage backs up through sinks or toilets, call the City’s sewer and drainage maintenance staff. City workers will check and remove blockages in the main sewer line Mount Vernon. If the problem is the result of too much storm water in the system, you may have to wait until the storm has subsided to have the backup resolved
Keep roots or other obstructions from blocking your home's side sewer. If you need repairs for a side sewer backup, look under "Westchester County Plumbing, Drains & Sewer Cleaning" in The Yellow Pages. If there is a heavy storm and sewage backs up through sinks or toilets, call the City’s sewer and drainage maintenance staff. City workers will check and remove blockages in the main sewer line Mount Vernon. If the problem is the result of too much storm water in the system, you may have to wait until the storm has subsided to have the backup resolved
Maintenance Drainage Maintenance
Rains in Westchester County cause water to wash over roofs, driveways, sidewalks, streets, parking lots and other surfaces. During this journey, water picks up a lot of pollutants. Oil, pesticides, metals, garbage, chemicals, dirt and other debris are mixed in with the water before they enter the Westchester storm drains. The polluted stormwater drains into the a system that eventually discharges into our rivers and streams. For the health of those dreams, you can do your part to keep water quality good by reducing pollution in runoff. Otherwise, your pollution could endanger the lives of fish, wildlife and people. In addition the pollution, the volume and speed of the runoff is an issue that can cause erosion, habitat destruction and cause sewer overflows if it is not mediated.
Wherever you live - in a town, city or the country- there is a drainage system in place for Westchester County. Storm drains, ditches, and culverts are all part of this system and can be blocked by garbage, leaves, rocks and other debris. You can do your part by checking these systems within your property and removing blockages. You can also minimize drainage into culverts and stormdrains by providing places such as gravel or grass swales where pollutants can be naturally treated on-site rather than being added to the already over-polluted New York storm water system.
Wherever you live - in a town, city or the country- there is a drainage system in place for Westchester County. Storm drains, ditches, and culverts are all part of this system and can be blocked by garbage, leaves, rocks and other debris. You can do your part by checking these systems within your property and removing blockages. You can also minimize drainage into culverts and stormdrains by providing places such as gravel or grass swales where pollutants can be naturally treated on-site rather than being added to the already over-polluted New York storm water system.
How to prevent home drainage problems
Here are some ideas I found to keep your home's drainage system protected in Westchester County. Drainage system maintenance on private property is your responsibility.
1) Make sure your drainage system directs water away from your foundation and not on to your neighbor's property. Don't discharge water over the side of a steep hill because it can cause erosion problems.
2) Clean your gutters and downspouts Westchester. Check your gutters once a week during fall and winter. Just one wind or rainstorm can clog a well-flowing drainage system.
3) Rake up leaves. Leaves clog drains, which can lead to flooding. Use a rake or pitch fork to clear the storm grates Larchmont near your property of leaves and debris.
4) Water is the most common cause of unstable slopes, landslides, and erosion. Check your property for signs of earth movement, such as leaning trees, or cracks in the soil and under sidewalks. If you have a problem, contact a soils engineer (see the Yellow Pages, under "Engineers-Geotechnical-Soils") to evaluate the situation. In general, trees and plants with strong root structures help prevent soil erosion but do not prevent landslides.
5) Never block any part of the city's drainage system. Do not put leaves, dirt, grass clippings, or any materials in ditches, culverts, or drains. Doing so can cause flooding.
1) Make sure your drainage system directs water away from your foundation and not on to your neighbor's property. Don't discharge water over the side of a steep hill because it can cause erosion problems.
2) Clean your gutters and downspouts Westchester. Check your gutters once a week during fall and winter. Just one wind or rainstorm can clog a well-flowing drainage system.
3) Rake up leaves. Leaves clog drains, which can lead to flooding. Use a rake or pitch fork to clear the storm grates Larchmont near your property of leaves and debris.
4) Water is the most common cause of unstable slopes, landslides, and erosion. Check your property for signs of earth movement, such as leaning trees, or cracks in the soil and under sidewalks. If you have a problem, contact a soils engineer (see the Yellow Pages, under "Engineers-Geotechnical-Soils") to evaluate the situation. In general, trees and plants with strong root structures help prevent soil erosion but do not prevent landslides.
5) Never block any part of the city's drainage system. Do not put leaves, dirt, grass clippings, or any materials in ditches, culverts, or drains. Doing so can cause flooding.
Cleaning Out your New York Storm Drain
Zonzini offers storm drain cleaning services. Our storm drain cleaning services helps prevent back-ups and minor flooding due to clogged and blocked storm drains. Zonzini pipeline services can clean storm drains in a variety of settings: commercial, industrial, municipal, malls, and much more.
Storm drains are a critical component to city infrastructure. Storm drains should be free of debris to allow proper flow, especially during times of heavy or sustained rain. These storm drains lead to our groundwater system, so chemicals, paint, and other toxic substances should never be poured into the storm drain.
We offer free, onsite estimates to cities throughout Westchester County including: Ardsley 10502, Harrison 10528, Hartdale 10530, Larchmont 10538, Mamaroneck 10543, Mount Vernon NY, 10550 10552 10553, Port Chester 10573, Purchase NY 10577, Rye NY 10580, Scarsdale 10583, White Plains NY 10601, 10603, 10604, 10605, 10606, 10607, Tuckahoe 10707, Bronxville 10708, Eastchester, 10709, New Rochelle New York 10801, Pelham 10803, New Rochelle 10805
Storm drains are a critical component to city infrastructure. Storm drains should be free of debris to allow proper flow, especially during times of heavy or sustained rain. These storm drains lead to our groundwater system, so chemicals, paint, and other toxic substances should never be poured into the storm drain.
We offer free, onsite estimates to cities throughout Westchester County including: Ardsley 10502, Harrison 10528, Hartdale 10530, Larchmont 10538, Mamaroneck 10543, Mount Vernon NY, 10550 10552 10553, Port Chester 10573, Purchase NY 10577, Rye NY 10580, Scarsdale 10583, White Plains NY 10601, 10603, 10604, 10605, 10606, 10607, Tuckahoe 10707, Bronxville 10708, Eastchester, 10709, New Rochelle New York 10801, Pelham 10803, New Rochelle 10805
Weschester County Sewage Sewage Disposal Program
Here is an explanation of the Westchester County sewage treatment program, taken from the following government website: http://www.westchestergov.com/patterns/ch7/c7g.htm This article describes the expansion of the existing systems, which is funded in part by New York City.
The Patterns Program
G. WASTE DISPOSAL
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Maintain safe and environmentally sound systems for the removal or treatment of waste consistent with land use policies; strengthen programs to reduce the waste stream.
The Setting
The installation of public sewer service and sewage treatment plants has profoundly affected the county’s pattern of development. In the time frame encompassed by Patterns, the principal influences on development opportunities will be environmental considerations and constraints on public spending.
The County’s Yonkers Wastewater Treatment Plant on the Hudson River is the largest in Westchester.
With a few exceptions, the southern and central sections of Westchester, where 90% of the population lives, are served by the County’s seven wastewater treatment plants (Blind Brook, Mamaroneck, Port Chester and New Rochelle plants on the Long Island Sound shore and Yonkers, Ossining and Peekskill plants on the Hudson River shore). Feeding the plants are 190 miles of trunk sewers, 34 pump stations and 20 storm flow regulating chambers.
Most areas of the north county watershed towns are dependent on subsurface sewage disposal systems located on each lot or they are served by a few locally-based central sewage collection and treatment districts. In the 1970s, the County prepared a plan to outline how central sewer service could be provided to these areas, primarily through trunk line connections to the existing sewered areas. Cost and capacity issues have prevented implementation. Subsequently, all municipalities in the north county developed new comprehensive plans that recommended long-range land use densities not dependent on central sewer service for most of the unsewered areas located outside of district boundaries.
Solid waste management was the formative intermunicipal experience for many of Westchester’s local jurisdictions. In 1982, under federal consent orders to close the County’s Croton Point land fill and local incinerators, 26 municipalities agreed to join in a special assessment district that would enable the County to build what would be known as the Charles Point Resource Recovery Facility, located in Peekskill. Completed in 1984, the plant accepts solid waste from all municipalities in the district, which numbered 36 in 1995, representing 90 percent of the county’s population. The facility can process 657,000 tons of solid waste per year. District municipalities deliver 550,000 tons while the excess capacity is allocated to commercial waste collected by private carters.
Five transfer stations receive collection vehicles from the participating municipalities and compact refuse into transfer trailers, avoiding longer hauls through the county.
Ash residue generated at the Charles Point facility is in turn disposed of at the Sprout Brook Ashfill located in Cortlandt.
With enactment of the Solid Waste Management Act of 1988, the State of New York assumed regulatory responsibility for the management of local solid waste plans. In response, the County updated its solid waste plan to conform with state regulations. The County Solid Waste Management Plan Update emphasized waste reduction, reuse and recycling initiatives.
In July 1992, the County enacted a Solid Waste and Recyclables Collection Licensing Law and a Source Separation Law as part of its implementation of the Solid Waste Management Plan. These laws require licensing of private haulers and mandatory source separation in each municipality. A material recovery facility (MRF), brought on- line in 1992, was designed to accept 91,000 tons of municipally collected recyclables per year.
Framing the Issues
A regional approach has helped local governments manage waste that must move across, or flow under, their municipal boundaries.
a) SEWAGE COLLECTION AND TREATMENT. The existing sewage collection and treatment system is complex in terms of size, facilities and ownership. Municipal collection systems connect with the County trunk sewers which serve 13 separate sewer districts. However, not all areas within districts are served by public sewers. Capacity at the County’s wastewater treatment plants is taxed by infiltration and inflow problems.
The distinctive architecture of Mamaroneck Wastewater Treatment Plant has made it a local landmark.
During periods of heavy rain, flows into some plants can exceed their daily capacity, sometimes resulting in discharge of untreated sewage into the Hudson River or Long Island Sound. Studies by the federal Environmental Protection Agency under the auspices of the Long Island Sound Study (LISS) have raised the possibility of tertiary treatment requirements for plants discharging into Long Island Sound. The County is bound to a long-term, land-based sludge management system for the dewatered sludge generated at the Yonkers plant; under a 25-year agreement initiated in 1995, the sludge is converted into a reusable agricultural fertilizer.
b) CROTON WATERSHED. By land area, approximately one-third of the County is dependent on septic systems. Most of this land is in the Croton watershed in northern Westchester which encompasses five reservoirs that are part of the New York City water supply system. Also located in the watershed are 28 privately and municipally-owned wastewater collection, treatment and disposal systems that discharge 4 million gallons of treated effluent daily. “The Westchester County 208 Areawide Waste Treatment Management Plan (March 1978)” recommended extension of sewer service in the north county to include unsewered areas around established centers of development, and in areas where poorly functioning septic systems had resulted in deterioration of lakes and surface waters.
Although nothing has come of this plan, New York City’s efforts to tighten regulation of development in the Croton watershed renewed interest in 208 goals. The 1995 Watershed Agreement provides a mechanism to take a fresh look at identifying where public sewer extensions and sewer diversions may be appropriate to best protect the reservoirs and to allow centers to continue their present function and to have reasonable growth opportunities.
c) SOLID WASTE MANAGEMENT. The emphasis on waste management through reducing the waste stream and through recycling will continue to challenge the County, its municipalities and businesses to improve their conservation efforts. The few Westchester towns who have not joined the refuse disposal district have their solid waste carted to facilities outside of Westchester, a course of action which may not be viable over the long term. Ash residue deposited in fills must be monitored. A County program for collecting household chemical waste has reached less than one percent of the county’s population. Yard and barn waste continues to comprise 15 to 20 percent of the solid waste stream indicating a composting solution is applied to only one-half of all yard waste generated in Westchester. The former Croton Point landfill has been capped and converted to uses integrated into Croton Point Park.
Strategies
1. Pursue programs to reduce the waste stream and make the existing waste management system more efficient.
The County and the municipalities can:
Develop a long term solution to sludge disposal.
Promote County, municipal, business and individual recycling efforts to reduce amounts of solid waste incinerated or placed in land fills.
Encourage composting programs for yard wastes by individual homeowners and municipalities so as to remove this material from the waste stream.
Assess yard waste composting needs, identify potential sites, and provide assistance expanding or establishing compost programs.
Explore recycling and disposal options for construction debris to help keep costs of housing construction down.
Development of the County's Material Recovery Facility in Yonkers in 1992 was key to reducing the solid waste stream by providing a site to gather and process recyclable materials.
The County can:
Determine if consolidation of County sewer districts would provide efficiencies.
Pursue a nitrogen reduction plan that averages nitrogen loading of the four treatment plants on Long Island Sound, and plants on the Hudson River, so as to allow flexibility in providing necessary upgrades at appropriate plants.
Maintain efficiency, capacity, and marketing opportunities of the material recovery facility (MRF) in Yonkers.
Investigate developing permanent household chemical reception center(s) that would allow a more regular, more frequent schedule for reception of the target wastes and would provide for more efficient handling.
Explore establishing a mobile collection program for household chemical wastes.The municipalities can:
Continue efforts to reduce leaks in municipal sewer lines and to eliminate illegal sewer connections.
2. Expand sewage collection and treatment systems to eliminate individual on-lot sewage disposal systems and surface discharges in environmentally sensitive developed areas.
The County can:
Expand the capacity of Peekskill wastewater treatment plant, through the funding support of New York City, so as to divert sewage disposal from sites within the Croton watershed.
Extend County trunk sewer lines, through the funding support of New York City, into developed areas of the Croton watershed and to connection points with existing wastewater treatment plants so as to eliminate surface discharge into the Croton system.
The municipalities can:
Extend public sewering, through funding support of New York City, to areas with septic system failure and lake degradation to protect surface water resources, where consistent with local planning.
The Patterns Program
G. WASTE DISPOSAL
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Maintain safe and environmentally sound systems for the removal or treatment of waste consistent with land use policies; strengthen programs to reduce the waste stream.
The Setting
The installation of public sewer service and sewage treatment plants has profoundly affected the county’s pattern of development. In the time frame encompassed by Patterns, the principal influences on development opportunities will be environmental considerations and constraints on public spending.
The County’s Yonkers Wastewater Treatment Plant on the Hudson River is the largest in Westchester.
With a few exceptions, the southern and central sections of Westchester, where 90% of the population lives, are served by the County’s seven wastewater treatment plants (Blind Brook, Mamaroneck, Port Chester and New Rochelle plants on the Long Island Sound shore and Yonkers, Ossining and Peekskill plants on the Hudson River shore). Feeding the plants are 190 miles of trunk sewers, 34 pump stations and 20 storm flow regulating chambers.
Most areas of the north county watershed towns are dependent on subsurface sewage disposal systems located on each lot or they are served by a few locally-based central sewage collection and treatment districts. In the 1970s, the County prepared a plan to outline how central sewer service could be provided to these areas, primarily through trunk line connections to the existing sewered areas. Cost and capacity issues have prevented implementation. Subsequently, all municipalities in the north county developed new comprehensive plans that recommended long-range land use densities not dependent on central sewer service for most of the unsewered areas located outside of district boundaries.
Solid waste management was the formative intermunicipal experience for many of Westchester’s local jurisdictions. In 1982, under federal consent orders to close the County’s Croton Point land fill and local incinerators, 26 municipalities agreed to join in a special assessment district that would enable the County to build what would be known as the Charles Point Resource Recovery Facility, located in Peekskill. Completed in 1984, the plant accepts solid waste from all municipalities in the district, which numbered 36 in 1995, representing 90 percent of the county’s population. The facility can process 657,000 tons of solid waste per year. District municipalities deliver 550,000 tons while the excess capacity is allocated to commercial waste collected by private carters.
Five transfer stations receive collection vehicles from the participating municipalities and compact refuse into transfer trailers, avoiding longer hauls through the county.
Ash residue generated at the Charles Point facility is in turn disposed of at the Sprout Brook Ashfill located in Cortlandt.
With enactment of the Solid Waste Management Act of 1988, the State of New York assumed regulatory responsibility for the management of local solid waste plans. In response, the County updated its solid waste plan to conform with state regulations. The County Solid Waste Management Plan Update emphasized waste reduction, reuse and recycling initiatives.
In July 1992, the County enacted a Solid Waste and Recyclables Collection Licensing Law and a Source Separation Law as part of its implementation of the Solid Waste Management Plan. These laws require licensing of private haulers and mandatory source separation in each municipality. A material recovery facility (MRF), brought on- line in 1992, was designed to accept 91,000 tons of municipally collected recyclables per year.
Framing the Issues
A regional approach has helped local governments manage waste that must move across, or flow under, their municipal boundaries.
a) SEWAGE COLLECTION AND TREATMENT. The existing sewage collection and treatment system is complex in terms of size, facilities and ownership. Municipal collection systems connect with the County trunk sewers which serve 13 separate sewer districts. However, not all areas within districts are served by public sewers. Capacity at the County’s wastewater treatment plants is taxed by infiltration and inflow problems.
The distinctive architecture of Mamaroneck Wastewater Treatment Plant has made it a local landmark.
During periods of heavy rain, flows into some plants can exceed their daily capacity, sometimes resulting in discharge of untreated sewage into the Hudson River or Long Island Sound. Studies by the federal Environmental Protection Agency under the auspices of the Long Island Sound Study (LISS) have raised the possibility of tertiary treatment requirements for plants discharging into Long Island Sound. The County is bound to a long-term, land-based sludge management system for the dewatered sludge generated at the Yonkers plant; under a 25-year agreement initiated in 1995, the sludge is converted into a reusable agricultural fertilizer.
b) CROTON WATERSHED. By land area, approximately one-third of the County is dependent on septic systems. Most of this land is in the Croton watershed in northern Westchester which encompasses five reservoirs that are part of the New York City water supply system. Also located in the watershed are 28 privately and municipally-owned wastewater collection, treatment and disposal systems that discharge 4 million gallons of treated effluent daily. “The Westchester County 208 Areawide Waste Treatment Management Plan (March 1978)” recommended extension of sewer service in the north county to include unsewered areas around established centers of development, and in areas where poorly functioning septic systems had resulted in deterioration of lakes and surface waters.
Although nothing has come of this plan, New York City’s efforts to tighten regulation of development in the Croton watershed renewed interest in 208 goals. The 1995 Watershed Agreement provides a mechanism to take a fresh look at identifying where public sewer extensions and sewer diversions may be appropriate to best protect the reservoirs and to allow centers to continue their present function and to have reasonable growth opportunities.
c) SOLID WASTE MANAGEMENT. The emphasis on waste management through reducing the waste stream and through recycling will continue to challenge the County, its municipalities and businesses to improve their conservation efforts. The few Westchester towns who have not joined the refuse disposal district have their solid waste carted to facilities outside of Westchester, a course of action which may not be viable over the long term. Ash residue deposited in fills must be monitored. A County program for collecting household chemical waste has reached less than one percent of the county’s population. Yard and barn waste continues to comprise 15 to 20 percent of the solid waste stream indicating a composting solution is applied to only one-half of all yard waste generated in Westchester. The former Croton Point landfill has been capped and converted to uses integrated into Croton Point Park.
Strategies
1. Pursue programs to reduce the waste stream and make the existing waste management system more efficient.
The County and the municipalities can:
Develop a long term solution to sludge disposal.
Promote County, municipal, business and individual recycling efforts to reduce amounts of solid waste incinerated or placed in land fills.
Encourage composting programs for yard wastes by individual homeowners and municipalities so as to remove this material from the waste stream.
Assess yard waste composting needs, identify potential sites, and provide assistance expanding or establishing compost programs.
Explore recycling and disposal options for construction debris to help keep costs of housing construction down.
Development of the County's Material Recovery Facility in Yonkers in 1992 was key to reducing the solid waste stream by providing a site to gather and process recyclable materials.
The County can:
Determine if consolidation of County sewer districts would provide efficiencies.
Pursue a nitrogen reduction plan that averages nitrogen loading of the four treatment plants on Long Island Sound, and plants on the Hudson River, so as to allow flexibility in providing necessary upgrades at appropriate plants.
Maintain efficiency, capacity, and marketing opportunities of the material recovery facility (MRF) in Yonkers.
Investigate developing permanent household chemical reception center(s) that would allow a more regular, more frequent schedule for reception of the target wastes and would provide for more efficient handling.
Explore establishing a mobile collection program for household chemical wastes.The municipalities can:
Continue efforts to reduce leaks in municipal sewer lines and to eliminate illegal sewer connections.
2. Expand sewage collection and treatment systems to eliminate individual on-lot sewage disposal systems and surface discharges in environmentally sensitive developed areas.
The County can:
Expand the capacity of Peekskill wastewater treatment plant, through the funding support of New York City, so as to divert sewage disposal from sites within the Croton watershed.
Extend County trunk sewer lines, through the funding support of New York City, into developed areas of the Croton watershed and to connection points with existing wastewater treatment plants so as to eliminate surface discharge into the Croton system.
The municipalities can:
Extend public sewering, through funding support of New York City, to areas with septic system failure and lake degradation to protect surface water resources, where consistent with local planning.
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