‘This work is essential’
Southern Brooklyn wastewater treatment upgrading with green infrastructure
BY JESSICA PARKS
Construction is underway
on upgrades to a wastewater
treatment facility in Sheepshead
Bay, and city offi cials
claim the new green infrastructure
will be equivalent to
taking 109 passenger cars off
the road.
“The Coney Island Wastewater
Resource Recovery Facility
cleans more than 110
million gallons of wastewater
from nearly 600,000 Brooklyn
residents every day of the year
and protects the waterways
and beaches in the area,” said
city Department of Environmental
Protection Commissioner
Vincent Sapienza.
The Coney Island Wastewater
Resource Recovery Facility,
which, contrary to its name,
is located on Knapp Street in
Sheepshead Bay, treats wastewater
that is carried from sewage
pipes spanning southern
and central Brooklyn so that it
can safely be released into the
city’s waterways.
The treatment plant will
see a brand-new main sewage
COURIER L 14 IFE, JULY 16-22, 2021
pump, replacing a system
used continuously since 1980,
that will consume 20 percent
less electricity, reduce annual
greenhouse gases by 500
metric tons, and save nearly
a quarter-million dollars in
operating costs each year,
according to a press release
from the city Department of
Environmental Protection,
the agency that manages the
city’s wastewater plants.
The city Department of Environmental
Protection is upgrading
the facility’s six main
sewage pumps, discharge piping,
force main and valves in
the existing dry well. New motors,
controllers and associated
electrical equipment will
also be installed with the new
pump system.
A new electrical room, that
will be constructed inside the
facility’s existing Pump and
Power Building, will house
the new electrical equipment
and will be outfi tted with new
air conditioning equipment.
There will also be a few other
HVAC upgrades conducted at
the facility, such as replacing
exhaust fans and ducts.
So the plant can continue
operating during construction,
builders will install a
submersible pump system
in the existing subgrade wet
wells — a one chamber, underground
sewage pump — in the
courtyard area.
Brooklyn’s elected offi cials
lauded the work as muchneeded
upgrades in the face
of warming climates in New
York City and beyond.
“At a time when more intense
heat waves and stronger
storms are becoming the
norm, we must ensure our infrastructure
is greener and
more resilient to prepare for a
warming world. The new and
improved Coney Island Wastewater
Resource Recovery Facility
meets both of these goals,
and sets the standard for infrastructure
across the city and
state. I thank DEP for their
partnership on this critical
project,” said Brooklyn Borough
President Eric Adams,
the presumed Democratic nominee
for New York City mayor
as of early this week.
The $110-million project began
earlier this year and is expected
to be fi nished in 2025.
“This work is essential
to reducing our carbon footprint,
improving air quality,
lowering operating costs and
ensuring the treatment facility
remains in a state of good
repair for decades to come,”
Sapienza said.
The Coney Island Wastewater Resource Recovery plant is getting a $110-million upgrade. NYCDEP
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