The Oyster Bay Sewer District, located on the north shore of Long Island, 25 air-miles east of New York City, was established on 17 August 1926 by action of the Town Board.The Oyster Bay Sewer District, located on the north shore of Long Island, 25 air-miles east of New York City, was established on 17 August 1926 by action of the Town Board.
The original facilities served an area of approximately 975 acres. About 16 miles of sewer mains were constructed in 1927-1928 at an approximate cost of $450,000. The treatment plant was constructed at a cost of approximately $96,000 and included a pumping station and primary treatment processes. After solids had settled to the bottom of an Imhoff Tank, the liquids were chlorinated and discharged through an outfall pipe into Oyster Bay. The solids were dewatered in glass covered sludge drying beds and the dried sludge was buried on the Treatment Plant grounds.
In 1930, the New York State Department of Health approved an eastward extension of the District to install sewers in East Main Street/Cove Road to serve additional parcels in the Village of Oyster Bay Cove. This project included the installation of the Landing Road and Steamboat Road pumping stations.
In the 1960's the three-man Board of Commissioners authorized the design and modernization of the facility to secondary treatment standards for a maximum flow of 1.2 MGD. Funded by a tax supported bond issue, the design abandoned all structures of the original plant except the receiving wet well. Sewage now passed through a bar screen and settling chamber to remove rags, sand and other debris. Also added to the plant were primary and secondary settling tanks, two trickling filters for secondary treatment, a sludge digester and an upgraded chlorination system.
The Highwood Road Pumping Station, was constructed in the mid 1960’s to serve homes in the southeasterly corner of the District. This is the third pumping station in the District.
A secondary sludge digester was constructed at the treatment plant in 1965.
In the mid 1980’s, sewers were installed to serve a residential subdivision in the northeasterly corner of the Village of Upper Brookville.
The early-1990's saw a $6-million upgrade of the Treatment Plant to a design 1.8 MGD flow. Added to the system were a new wet well, automated bar and screening chamber, increased pumping capacity, additional primary and secondary settling tanks, four rotating biological disc systems, and enlarged chlorine contact chamber, replacement of the liquid chlorine system with safer sodium hypochlorite, a plant water system, an effluent discharge pumping system, and an emergency diesel-powered generating system.
In the mid 2000’s a project was undertaken to reduce the discharge of nitrogen in the effluent to meet the requirements of the USEPA Long Island Sound Study. The project included construction of a new two basin Sequencing Batch Reactor (SBR). To reduce capital costs, the existing primary clarifiers were converted to aerated pre-equalization basins, and the existing secondary clarifiers were converted to post-equalization basins. A new masonry building was constructed to house the belt thickener and polymer feed equipment, SBR and sludge holding tank blowers, and motor control center, and a new electric service with an emergency diesel-powered generating system. A separate new masonry building was constructed for the dechlorination chemical storage and feed facility along with a dechlorination contact tank with rapid mixer. Both trickling filters and the rotating biological discs were taken out of service. A $6.7 million grant from the New York State Clean Air/Clean Water Environmental Bond Act provided a significant reduction in project costs to the District.
In 2020, the pad mounted transformer for one of the electric services at the treatment plant was relocated to higher ground to prevent potential impact from flooding.
During the process to renew the State Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (SPDES) discharge permit that became effective on April 1, 2023, the District requested and was granted approval to utilize the plant water system (treatment plant effluent) to irrigate portions of the lawn at the water pollution control facility site.
The District currently services approximately 1,700 connections to its collection system at an average daily flow of 1.2 MGD.
The District is managed by three elected commissioners. Staff provide 24-hour coverage, 7 days a week. District services are funded by a tax levy based on assessed valuation.
The State of New York Department of Health annual report for the year ending December 31, 1928, noted the Department had a representative assigned to the supervision of sewage treatment plants. The assignment was made possible by legislative enactment, primarily for the protection from pollution of oyster beds. The District treatment plant effluent quality continues to protect pollution of oyster beds in Oyster Bay beyond the NYSDEC established discharge zone.