Department of Environmental Protection reminding NYC residents of what can and cannot be flushed down toilets

NEW YORK — Overwhelmed with extra trash being flushed into the system, the Department of Environmental Protection is urging New Yorkers to properly dispose of waste and chemicals.

It’s an expensive problem that taxpayers are paying for.

CBS2’s Alecia Reid took a tour of the Newtown Creek facility in Greenpoint, Brooklyn on Thursday to see how it all works.

Waste could take a month or more to break down, but the wastewater treatment plant does the job within a matter of hours. However, there are factors, like trash, clogging the system.

“It gets so bad sometimes that it causes a backup of sewage in the system and that’s bad because it can flood a neighborhood,” said Pam Elardo, deputy commissioner of the Bureau of Wastewater Management.

The city’s resource plants process anywhere from 1.3 to 3 billion gallons of water each day.

The first step is wastewater is collected and screened. Large objects and trash get scooped out. The aeration tanks are where pollutants are removed and treatment added. A light froth with bubbles means the system is doing its job.

“This is the heart of the operation. If the aeration tanks behave well, more or less the whole operation will run well,” a worker said.

Keep in mind, whatever goes down the sink or toilet ends up at one the 14 treatment plants across the city.

All the extra trash slowing the system down can be avoided. When it comes to flushing, Elardo says, “There are four things we wanna see: puke is OK, poop, pee and toilet paper.”

Elardo added “flushable” means it goes through your toilet, but clogs the city’s 7,000 miles of sewer pipes.

“We spend $20 million a year just on dealing with flushable wipes,” Elardo said.

And that cost is passed on to taxpayers.

“It’s something people don’t pay attention to and they think one small action won’t have an effect,” said Perry Fitz of Greenpoint.

As the city transforms wastewater from different boroughs — to clean water deposited into the East River, the public can help the treatment process by disposing of waste and chemicals properly. Do not flush expired medication as it can affect the good bacteria in the system. Remember, anything outside of the four Ps goes in the trash.