Great Neck Water Pollution Control District

Maintaining the Quality of Our Surrounding Water
is Everyone's Responsibility

	Sump pumps are not permitted to be hooked up to the sanitary sewers. The excess water that is introduced into the District’s sewer system by sump pumps adds up to increased operational and maintenance costs that are paid for by the taxpayers. Do your part, if you have a sump pump, disconnect it from the sanitary sewer system. Contact your local Village or Town building department for the appropriate location to discharge the sump pump water.
	No gutters or leaders are allowed to be hooked up to the sanitary sewers. For the same reason as the sump pump. During a rain event, a typical house roof can displace approximately 1,500 gallons of rain water at a rate of 1 inch of rainfall an hour. It you times that by approximately 4,000 houses in the District, you are looking at 6 million gallons of rain water potentially entering the system that does not need to be treated. With an average plant flow of 2.6 million gallons a day (MGD), you can see how serious it would be to have 6 million gallons of rain water entering the treatment plant in the span of an hour!!! All the electricity and chemicals that are used to treat this rain water are wasted resources that cause an increase in operational costs and taxes.
	Proper grease traps. The District has enacted a comprehensive grease trap program to reduce the amount of grease being introduced into the sanitary sewer system. Since its inception, the amount of grease entering the sewer system has drastically reduced. The District will be conducting inspections of all establishments selling food or grease producing products. Keep in mind that working with us will protect you and your neighbor from potential back ups and higher taxes. It is your responsibility to hire a plumber to have the grease traps installed and maintained.

Proper Disposal of Medications

. .	Alexander B. Grannis Commissioner

Facility Operations Assistance Section
NYS Department of Environmental Conservation
625 Broadway - 4th Floor Albany, NY 12233-3506

Phone: (518) 402-8177
Fax: (518) 402-8082

NEW DEC WEBSITE - PROPER DISPOSAL of MEDICATIONS
DEC has a new initiative to help reduce the growing presence of pharmaceuticals in water bodies. The “Don’t Flush Your Drugs” campaign and www.dontflushyourdrugs.net website will help raise public awareness and explain how to dispose of prescriptions and over-the-counter drugs properly. Prevention and public education are the keys! The website includes -

Why Not Flush? How to Dispose of Drugs Safely? FAQ’s

Recent reports have shown that rivers, streams, and drinking water supplies contain trace amounts of an array of medicines. Wastewater treatment plants are not specifically designed to remove these types of chemicals.