About 15 weeks after a leak at the Yonkers Joint Sewage Treatment Plant, the county has released a new YouTube video that offers an inside look at what happens to everything we flush, pour out, and send down the drain.
The three-and-a-half-minute video takes viewers through the facility and follows the process from the moment wastewater arrives at the plant through the different treatment stages before it is safely returned to the environment. The Yonkers facility serves more than half a million residents and operates 24/7, processing approximately 65–85 million gallons of waste a day. It’s the county’s largest treatment plant.
“After the July event, there was a lot of confusing information being shared,” says Lou Vetrone, First Deputy Commissioner of the
Department of Environmental Facilities. “We made this video tour so Westchester residents could see for themselves that safety is our number one concern. We are incredibly proud of the employees here and the incredible work they do to protect the health of residents.”
On Thursday, July 2, at around 9 p.m., some 39 million gallons of partially treated sewage leaked into the Hudson River from the Yonkers facility. Con Edison said there had been an 8 percent voltage reduction in the area due to increased power usage, and a spokesperson for the county executive’s office said the plant was also having internal power issues.
The discharge prompted the county to advise residents on Friday morning, July 3, to avoid all recreational use of the river, but that advisory was lifted by nightfall.
The video has registered 256 views in its first six days online.
