Introduction to Combined Sewer Overflow

An overview of CSO, its impact on water quality in the Creek, and ways to reduce it.

[WELLINGTON]

The chamber at 1:27 is actually a reinforced concrete chambers built to retrofit to the brick vaulted sewer. I built it

[tcbgaming]

I really did not know any of this. This needs to be shared to every New Yorker.

[johnsmart]

Thank you for bringing this to the people, it is important that the people know about this important matter. It is a most interesting video, thank you sir, for the time you have taken to produce it.

[sarasr]

Wow I not alone ..sooo many people's r here for watching ... sewer ..😭

[triton]

Combined sewer systems are also a basement flood waiting to happen. There are combined sewers that have no outlet at all; the sewer simply goes directly to the treatment facility. When it gets overwhelmed, the sewer pipes back up and overflow into basements.

[dieseldragon]

UK viewer here, and trust me; We know *all* there is to know about Brexit💩 and the problems of untreated discharge! A couple of tips from me (Mostly taken from cold war CD material) to help with _deferring_ sewage disposal when there's a chance it could end up in the river:

1. If you're a single male household, collect water waste in a suitably labelled plastic bottle (Plastic milk bottles are best) kept by the toilet (Cap the bottle with a piece of toilet paper) and pour it down the drain _after_ the flood is over. Not only can this defer disposal of liquids when the sewer can't handle them, it can also be used to save water during droughts by discharging/flushing less. For the ladies who can; Employ the same method using a home-made adaptor. 👍

2. For European-style toilets; The amount of water needed might be less than a flush. Fill a small bucket with water, and learn how to pour this into the bowl such that it discharges the waste whilst using as little water as necessary. 🌊

3. In cases of emergency or drain blockage/septic failure; Human waste (And TP associated with it) can also be disposed of in the same way as dog waste, provided it's enclosed in suitably strong plastic bags. For more pleasant results, add scrunched-up newspaper to the bottom of the bag first, and store outside the house in waste containers that are kept well away from sunlight.

4. For households that are strictly vegetarian/vegan and where no meat-containing waste is produced; Veggie manure is the same as horse manure, and can be employed in the same way for agricultural purposes. However this is probably best _not_ attempted in an urban environment, except perhaps on a rooftop allotment. 🌱

[chrisroberts]

so in ny you can be canoeing in a river of dookie?

[MrNeptunebob]

So are we supposed to "hold it" until the storm is over?

[TheRelentlessKnight]

I feel like if everyone seen this video people would be more conscious of how we dispose of things

[robertdees]

City wide. What is the estimated amount of waste water discharged every year accounting for variations in rainfall amounts?

[jjr]

What a horrible design. I work on waste water systems and our systems do not combine storm water with sewage water.

[roadslide]

Why did the pipes not working during ida?

[MrTommyboy]

Well, that's all well and good planning water features to absorb and release water to the aquafer, BUT most of NYC has a labyrinth of subway, water, electrical, telecom and steam tunnels underneath the streets which would make it difficult if not impossible for rain water to go through to the aquafers. Don't get me wrong, this is a great idea, but is not practical in most large cities (I wish it was).
Back in the early 1980's Philadelphia hired a new sanitary waste engineer. Once there he undertook a survey if Philadelphia's "combined sewer" features. What he found was totally disgusting. The system was originally designed so that during a "rain event" the initial "slug" of water would get sent through to the treatment plants then outlets along the streams and rivers would open allowing the mixture of raw sewage and rain water to flow into the creeks, the reasoning at the time they were built was it was believed that the "mixture" would be diluted enough to not cause problems. The problem was that once the "covers" opened to allow the mixture opened would not close due to lack of maintenance and they stayed open all the time allowing raw sewage to continually run into the streams and rivers. He estimated at THAT time, it would cost over 1 BILLION DOLLARS to revamp and repair JUST the outflow pipes. Needless to say the city didn't have anywhere NEAR the funding, I can only conjecture, they never got repaired. It is a common problem with a LOT of older towns and cities have been facing for YEARS and every new administration kicks the can down the road at least until the EPA steps in and provides the lions share of the money to perform the upgrades.

[markiusgalfordii]

Why don't they have it separated it's easy as that don't combine them

[danstarone]

there are many sewer/ storm overflows along the Thames in London, the water company is in the process of sealing them up and anew catchment system thats costing billions

[Sandi_shores_lands_fish]

@0:14

Whoah is that the sewer system?

It looks like the city of Oz....

How do the sewer pipes look? Like those green pipes in mario bros?

[dzulkafleysamad]

Combine sewer = raw sewage water + storm run off ? Isn't that costly to treat?

[nee-grow]

How about getting rid of all toilets in NYC and mandating everyone use composting toilets? Or is that not convenient for the yuppies who live there?

[catalickconverta]

If every building had a 15 foot deep bassmemt to catch water and slowly let it back out into the the storm drains that would probably stop alot major city floods we as people need to try new things instead of debunking them

[HarryToeface]

Sad part is, they have people like me...hard workers willing to clean up all that trash before it makes it into the sewer system...but they don't have a job like that. And anything similar to that is blocked off by so much bs and red tape. By the end of it you get criminals forced to do community service that pick up trash once in a blue moon... meanwhile someone like me are willing to clean up vast sections of road but there's no official job. Where would I go to ask the government for that kind of job? I used to do it for free but it's obviously not something you can do everyday because of rent and bills