One Park Slope resident think that he has a idea for this problem, and it involves disseminating real-time information to residents in close proximity to the canal, hoping to reduced wastewater flow when stormwater is heaviest. From Courier-Life:
"His system collects rainwater from buildings, and stores it in large, 750-gallon cisterns if a signal alerts that an overflow event is imminent. “Once you get that signal, it will close the valve because you don’t want to be dumping that water anymore.”When the system can handle it, the water is released back into the sewer line. “This is smart technology — it sees the action before it occurs and reacts to it,” he noted.
Presently, 377 million of gallons are discharged into the canal eachyear from 11 combined sewer overflow pipes along the waterway, Chezar said. Even with the city’s recently announced plan to reduce the overflows, there will still be 250 million gallons dumped in the canal, he noted. “Any gallon you can prevent from being discharged reduces that number,” he said.
Chezar’s hope is that his system will be installed in representative homes, institutions and businesses in and around the Gowanus. If it is shown to be effective, he is suggesting the city provide a discounted water rate to homes or businesses that employ the technology.
The theory is that the person would then modify their behavior, say, forestall washing their dishes, until after the danger of polluting the canal has passed. “This isn’t Big Brother,” Chezar said. “It is basically telling you what’s going on.”"
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