The Facts
Opened: 1939 - 40 MGD
Upgrades/Additions: 1965 - 60 MGD, 1977 - 80 MGD
Design Capacity: 80 MGD.
Drainage Area: 16,860 acres, northeast section of Queens
Receiving Waterbody: Upper East River
Population Served: 410,812. (est.)
Pumping Stations: 15 - Sanitary / Combined
Dewatering: on-site central dewatering facility
The Plant
The Tallman Island plant is located in the College Point section of Queens. It serves northwest Queens with an area of 16,860 acres.
The original Tallman Island Water Pollution Control Plant was designed in the mid 1930's. It was designed to serve an estimated population of 300,000 with an average flow of 40 MGD. The original facilities were laid out so that the plant could readily be expanded to provide treatment to an ultimate average flow of 80 MGD. The original plant was completed in 1939, in time to treat the flow from the 1939 World's Fair, at Flushing Meadow Park. Tallman Island was one of the first plants to use the step aeration process, which was included in the original design. Plant effluent was discharged into deep water, approximately 300 feet off shore. The plant is currently undergoing an upgrade to bilogical nutrient reduction systems.