September 17, 2013

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Chris Gilbride / Angel Román (718) 595-6600

Department of Environmental Protection Completes Upgrade of Orchard Beach Pumping Station in the Bronx

New York City Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) Commissioner Carter Strickland today announced the completion of a $2.7 million upgrade to the Orchard Beach Pumping Station in the Pelham Bay Park section of the Bronx.  Wastewater in New York City is primarily conveyed by gravity through the City’s 7,500 miles of sewer lines to 14 facilities where it is treated to federal Clean Water Act standards.  However, some neighborhoods, including Orchard Beach and the Pelham Bay Park area, require a pumping station to ensure that the wastewater flows toward the treatment facility and does not back up into homes, businesses, or onto local beaches.  The Orchard Beach Pumping Station ensures that up to one million gallons of wastewater produced each day by the comfort station, food service facilities, public pavilion structure, and the parking area at Orchard Beach flows towards the Hunts Point Wastewater Treatment Plant.  The upgraded station will also improve health and safety conditions for DEP personnel.

“Collecting and treating the more than 1.3 billion gallons of wastewater produced every day in New York City is essential to protecting public health,” said DEP Commissioner Strickland.  “Nowhere is this more important than at our city beaches, and I’d like to thank our partners at the Parks Department who have helped us ensure another successful beach season.”

The Orchard Beach Pumping Station was originally built in 1970.  Rehabilitation work began in July 2011 and included the installation of two 6-inch submersible pumps and new motor and pump control systems.  The new pumps can be raised above-ground for regular maintenance, which eliminates the need for more difficult below-grade, confined space entry maintenance.  Additionally, as part of the project, over 14,000 square feet of landscaping was installed around the pumping station.

DEP manages New York City’s water supply, providing more than one billion gallons of water each day to more than 9 million residents, including 8.3 million in New York City, and residents of Ulster, Orange, Putnam, and Westchester counties. This water comes from the Catskill, Delaware, and Croton watersheds that extend more than 125 miles from the City, and the system comprises 19 reservoirs, three controlled lakes, and numerous tunnels and aqueducts. DEP has nearly 6,000 employees, including almost 1,000 scientists, engineers, surveyors, watershed maintainers and others professionals in the upstate watershed. In addition to its $68 million payroll and $157 million in annual taxes paid in upstate counties, DEP has invested more than $1.5 billion in watershed protection programs—including partnership organizations such as the Catskill Watershed Corporation and the Watershed Agricultural Council—that support sustainable farming practices, environmentally sensitive economic development, and local economic opportunity. In addition, DEP has a robust capital program with over $14 billion in investments planned over the next 10 years that will create up to 3,000 construction-related jobs per year. For more information, visit nyc.gov/dep, like us on Facebook at facebook.com/nycwater, or follow us on Twitter at twitter.com/nycwater.