The Facts
Opened: 1967 - 310 MGD Modified Aeration.
Upgrades/Additions: None
Design Capacity: 310 MGD
Drainage Area: 15,656 acres, south and eastern midtown sections of Manhattan, northeast section of Brooklyn and western section of Queens
Receiving Waterbody: East River
Population Served: 1,068,012 (est.)
Pumping Stations: 2 - Sanitary, 1 - Storm
Dewatering: No on-site dewatering facility. Digested sludge shipped to Hunts Point facility for dewatering.
The Plant
The Newtown Creek plant is located in the Greenpoint section of Brooklyn. It serves portions of the boroughs of Manhattan, Brooklyn, and Queens covering a total area of about 16,000 acres.
The Newtown Creek plant was placed in operation in 1967 with an initial flow from Brooklyn and Queens. The Manhattan flow was added in 1968 with the completion of the Manhattan Pumping Station, which pumps wastewater from Manhattan through a deep tunnel beneath the East River to the treatment plant. The plant was designed as a high rate activated sludge plant with a design capacity of 310 MGD. Currently, the Newtown Creek WPCP Upgrade is a multi-phase project designed to improve process efficiency and treatment facility reliability. The project is mandated by the NYS DEC second modified judgement on consent. The order requires an effluent enhancement program to achieve city-wide effluent limits, secondary treatment and step denitrification treatment levels by December 31, 2007. Construction is to be completed by July 4, 2013.