- Help! There is a sewer back up in my house. What do I do?
The first thing to do is to phone the District's Main Building right away at (516) 482-0238 , to file a Sewer Stoppage Incident Report with us, so we can assist you further.
Please be ready to give a general synopsis of the problem you are
having from said backup, a phone number you can be reached at, a name
we can contact (especially if not your own) and the location of the
incident.
We will send someone out that same day to check the problem first hand
in our main line at your location. You don't have to be home at the
time; as long as we have a way to reach you we can follow up with you
after we have finished inspecting the incident area.
- I had a backup and after the District checked it out, they said it was my responsibly. Who is responsible for what?
The
homeowner is responsible for the maintenance of the sewer line from
their residence (house lateral) up to and including its connection to
the main sewer line. This line could be in the street or behind your
home, depending on the Village you live in. When a backup call is
received, we utilize our closed circuit TV (CCTV) camera to determine
if the cause is in the main sewer line or if it is in the homeowner's
house lateral line.
If it is found to be a problem in our main sewer line prior to the
connection you have from your house lateral, we will take care of it.
But if it isn't a problem from our main line, it is your responsibility
to get it taken care of.
- Who do I call when I have other water, waste or item removal related issues or just have unwanted items to be disposed of in general?
The
GNWPCD is here to help and serve you for any of your sewer backup
related problems that are caused by one of our sewer lines. But if it
is a non-sewer, yet water related problem you want to contact the Water
Authority of Great Neck North or Manhasset-Lakeview Water District
(depending on which services your particular water). This would be for
any and all other water related problems including sprinklers, water
mains, water service invoices and the similar.
If you want to contact your water provider directly:
Water Authority of Great Neck North: (516) 482-0210
Manhasset-Lakeview Water District: (516) 466-4416
Please note. We don't handle disposal of waste or removal of unwanted items. We only handle sewer line related issues.
For disposal, garbage and all other general non-sewer related issues and aren't regular water related as stated above, you should contact the Town of North Hempstead directly. They will be able to assist you further and direct you on the right path successfully.
Town of North Hempstead :
311 (The Town Resident local number) or (516) 869-6311
More areas to contact (like villages we service or government agencies related to the District) can be found on our Useful Links section of this site.
- What do I do about getting public access to sewer related records in your district?
To
get access to any files that deal with sewer lines or documents of the Great Neck Water Pollution Control District, you must first fill out and
complete the top portion of a Application for Public Access to
Records Form known as the FOIL Request form.
Please be sure to state the
location (or exact document you are looking for) of the record you want access to, be fully signed along with
your printed out name and who you are requesting the record on behalf
of before submittal.
Upon completion of filling out the form, it then must then be sent back to this office via mail, email or fax and
the request will either be approved or given reasons for other options
pertaining to it. You may also come to our office in person to fill out a FOIL request but this doesn't mean instant access to the records. It can take up to 20 days to process a request fully in some cases.
We can not and will not give access to any public records dealing with any of our
sewer lines, documents or maps without a FOIL form being completed prior to the request. This goes for any information that is being requested. The FOIL form
is located on the Useful Forms section of this site.
Please Note: A fee may be charged for any copies made to fulfil your request.
- I
own a food related business in this District, and was told I need to
put in a grease trap due to the Sewer Usage Ordinance. What exactly is
the Sewer Usage Ordinance?
Any food-service
related business found in our District must adhere to the Great Neck
Water Pollution Sewer Usage Ordnance guidelines.
This means that any business located in our District that is going to
be serving food in any capacity must have a grease trap (or "grease
interceptor"), installed onto their premises before they can run a
business in the District.
Prior to the operation of your business you must have approval from our main
office. Every type of grease trap installed will differ depending on
the type of business and the volume of food being produced to keep our
sewers clean from excess grease and wastes that can harm and cause
backup within our system.
Our sewer experts will determine the type of grease trap appropriate for your use and
once you have it properly installed you must agree to have said traps
cleaned on a regular monthly basis or risk being in violation with the
district and risk disconnection from our sewer lines due to this.
The agreement you make with an outside cleaning service provider to
regularly clean your grease traps must also be approved by District administration before it can go into effect.
A copy of the ordnance is available for viewing on our web site by clicking the link below.
( Click here for the Sewer Usage Ordinance ).
If you have any questions regarding the Sewer Usage Ordnance, please
call our Grease Trap Cleaning Processing Department at:
(516) 482-0238
ext. 21.
- I would love to take a tour of the District sewage plant. Is there a way I can schedule one?
We encourage you to take advantage of seeing the GNWPCD that we are so proud to show any who are interested in seeing it and learning more about how the sewer process truly works. Over the years we have had school classes, college classes, officials and local residents touring our facilities in routine intervals. If you would like to have your classes, organization or group take a tour of our facility, we would be glad to schedule one for you.
All we ask is that it is scheduled before hand as we have to plan out said tours prior to your arrival.
Please call (516) 482-0238 ext. 11 and the Superintendent's Office will set a time for you and your friends to take a tour of the District and its various buildings.
We look forward to seeing you here to tour our facilities.
- Can I dispose of medications and drugs in the drain and/or toilet?
Absolutely not! Please do not dispose of any medications, drugs or
other types of medicines into our wastewater system. This will do long
term damage to drinking water and wild life.
Trace elements from said medicines have been shown to show up and
effect the aquatic wildlife and the water we drink due to people
disposing of medications in this manor. Wastewater treatment plants
were not designed to filter out the elements found in these items.
Please be sure to check out the Disposal of Medications section of our site. And the website www.dontflushyourdrugs.net for more information on how to go about proper disposal of medications.
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- Why are garbage disposals not permitted in the District?
Garbage
disposals introduce larger solids and grease which can lead to
blockages throughout the system. Additives and detergents that claim to
dissolve grease may only soften it, allowing it to harden within the
system.
- Why can't I put fats, oils and/or grease (FOG) into the drain?
Once
FOG is poured into a drain it adheres to the insides of sewer pipes,
reducing their inside diameter. This grease build-up may block an
entire pipe, which could lead to raw sewage backing up into homes and
businesses.
- How am I supposed to dispose of fats, oils and grease (FOG) if I cannot put it into the sewer system?
Dispose of FOG by placing it and food scraps into a container or can and dispose of it with your regular trash collection.
- Why is all of this so important?
Every
gallon of sewage must be treated by the GNWPCD, while meeting strict
government guidelines, and then returned to Manhasset Bay. We all want
our neighboring waters and shoreline to be clean and pollution free.
- Why install nitrogen removal facilities?
This
is a federally mandated project. While nitrogen is an important
nutrient in aquatic ecosystems, large amounts (like those discharged by
WWTP) can alter the physical, chemical and biological characteristics
of water.
- Where else does this nitrogen come from?
Nitrogen
and other chemicals such as phosphorus and carbon are also introduced
to the system from fertilizers and storm water runoff. You can help
alleviate this chemical pollution by practicing Xeriscape landscaping.
That is, landscaping that uses minimal water and fertilizer and plants
native to the area.
For more information go to:
www.waterauthorityofgreatnecknorth.com/xeriscape.html.
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