Newtown Creek Wastewater Treatment Plant

The plant was originally constructed in 1967. The plant's unusual public amenities, which include a visitors' center with a manmade waterfall, a nature walk along the Newtown Creek, and the dramatic aesthetic elements, all stem from a long-term upgrade project that was begun by the city in 1998 and was scheduled for completion in 2014. When some Greenpoint residents resisted the expansion of the plant, the city responded by appointing a group of local residents to represent the community's interests during design and construction. Vito Acconci was engaged to create the waterfall and watercourse in and around the visitors' center. The plant's design has won awards from the AIA, the Society of American Registered Architects, from the Art Commission of the City of New York (now known as the NYC Design Commission). The plant gives monthly public tours of the digester eggs, for which reservations are required. The Visitor Center, which is located on Greenpoint Avenue at Humboldt Street, is open by appointment only. The Newtown Creek Nature Walk is outside the perimeter fence of the plant and is thus open daily during daylight hours. It can be accessed from the foot of Paidge Avenue, east of its intersection with Provost Street. ==Function==

The plant serves an area with a population of just over 1 million people in Lower Manhattan and nearby parts of Brooklyn and Queens. Its site covers 54 acres The plant handles a large portion of the drainage from the East Side of Manhattan. Sewage from the Financial District, Greenwich Village, the Lower East Side, Midtown East and the East Side up to 71st Street flows through of sewer pipes and interceptor pipes to the Thirteenth Street Pumping Station at 13th Street and Avenue D, from where it is sent under the East River to the plant. Normal influx is 170 million US gallons (450 million L; 100 million imp gal) a day, which increases to 300 million US gallons (450 million L; 100 million imp gal) during wet weather. When a significant overflow occurred during the New York City blackout of 1977, and 828 million US gallons (3.134 billion L; 689 million imp gal) of raw sewage spilled into the East River), the federal government ordered in 1995 that the city build back-up facilities. Despite this, the Northeast blackout of 2003 produced 145 million US gallons (550 million L; 121 million imp gal) of raw sewage spilled. In 1998, the city started its program to expand the facility. Construction was completed in 2014, and the plant remained opened throughout the renovation process. The plant can now handle 310 million gallons of waste water per day, with about 250 million gallons being the daily average, The city requested a postponement of the 2013 deadline in consideration of its plan to build a fully compliant Newtown Creek plant by 2022. ==References==