Water

Water Conservation and Climate Change
Climate change is projected to result in more precipitation in NY State than average, but in stronger and more sudden torrential dumps, and at times when it is least needed, i.e. in late winter. Meanwhile, short-term summer droughts are expected to increase in frequency.

Reducing water consumption is important in both times of drought and glut. Water systems use energy for pumping, treatment and filtration, and therefore reducing water use reduces GHG emissions. Commercial and residential water use during rain events puts an extra strain on lower Westchester's combined sewage overflow systems, which have been overwhelmed by heavy storms.

Simple actions like installing affordable low-flow showerheads can help to conserve water. Other actions require more investment, such as the investigation and repair of leaky underground water distribution systems. Water conservation saves money and reduces the need to find new, likely more expensive, sources of freshwater in the future.

Water Conservation Tips - click for over 100 ideas on reducing your use

Our Water Infrastructure
Hastings-on-Hudson gets its tap water via Suez, a multinational water company that purchased United Water of New Rochelle, our former municipal supplier (which in turn purchased it from previous providers). Our water is largely sourced from the same set of reservoirs that service New York City. The Old Croton Aqueduct runs right through Hastings, a former conduit of water to the city. Read about its fascinating history on the Friends of the Old Croton Aqueduct website.

Our wastewater is processed in Glenwood, Yonkers, at the Westchester County Wastewater Treatment Plant. Formerly called the Yonkers Joint Treatment Plant, and maintained by the Westchester Department of Environmental Facilities, it serves as many as 505,000 people, or 55% of Westchester County’s population, in 22 municipalities. The Ludlow Facility handles 100 million gallons of sewage per day (more during storm events). Here is a descriptive overview of lower Westchester's sewage system.

• Hastings-on-Hudson Stormwater Management 
• Flood Resources
• Map of Municipal Sewer Mains

Our Rivers and Streams
Hastings-on-Hudson could more aptly be named "Hastings-on-Hudson-and-Saw Mill," as it lies between two rivers—the Hudson to our west, and the Saw Mill on our eastern edges. We are aptly called a "Rivertown," along with several other villages in the Lower Hudson Valley.

While these two rivers enrich our ecosystems, they can also flood and carry trash and contaminants from other communities. You may be inadvertently contributing to downstream pollution. Know the law: it is illegal to use phosphorus fertilizers unless you are establishing a new lawn, or a soil test shows that your lawn does not have enough phosphorus (and in some specific other circumstances). Read more here.

The two rivers also have many small tributaries that trickle through our village, all of which need protection from erosion, invasive plants and other threats. Small streams are where the action is in terms of mineral exchanges and insect habitat, the basis for riverine food webs. See this article from American Rivers to learn why small streams are critical to healthy rivers. See this page to learn about our restoration project along Boutillier's Brook, near Exit 12 of the SMR Parkway.

Watch our May, 2021 Zoom on the Hudson, Saw Mill and water infrastructure:
A Tale of Three Rivers: How’s the Water and What Are We Doing About It?
Ryan Palmer, Director of Center for the Urban River at Beczak (CURB). After a brief overview of CURB, Ryan gives us a snapshot of the state of the Hudson via its glass eel population, which squiggle from the mid-Atlantic Ocean all the way up the Saw Mill and which CURB counts annually, and shares reflections on Saw Mill River water quality findings from their 7-year community science monitoring program. Ryan also discusses a third, mechanical "river": the infrastructure of our sewers, and an upcoming, county-wide initiative to address wastewater quality. CURB is an alliance of Sarah Lawrence College and the Beczak Environmental Education Center that has established a regional hub for conducting research on the Hudson River estuary and on the issues of its urban watershed. CURB seeks to advance environmental knowledge and stewardship by providing high-quality, K-12 environmental education for the local community, and also serves as a welcoming community space for a variety of civic and cultural activities.

For More on Our Local Waterways

• Hastings' Natural Resources Inventory, an overview of the village's natural resources, including streams and rivers.
• Hudson River: resources including background ecology and ecoaction.
• Saw Mill River: further resources including background ecology and ecoaction. the Saw Mill River runs parallel to the Saw Mill River Parkway and joins the Hudson River in downtown Yonkers. Watch our May 2021 Zoom on the Saw Mill: The Saw Mill Coalition – A Community-Led Effort to Restore a Forgotten Waterway.
• "Billie's Brook": a spring in the lower Burke Estate becomes a stream that flows into Factory Brook in the ravine behind the Community Center on Main Street, and eventually under the Zinsser Commuter Parking Lot into the Hudson.
• Scheckler's Brook: flows from Judson Avenue area into Sugar Pond, and later into Factory Brook.
• Boutillier's Brook: flows from Ravensdale area between Farragut Avenue and Farragut Parkway and into the Saw Mill River at Exit 12. See DEC planting proposal for May, 2021.
• Does your property include a stream? Learn more about how to care for it.

Watch our May, 2021 Zoom on surface pollution:
EPA Surface Water Quality Standards
Erica Fleisig, a lead biologist in the Office of Water at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, works with each of the ten EPA regional offices to provide technical assistance to their respective states, tribes and territories and helps oversee the national water quality standards program. Erica describes federal water quality standards and the pollutant limits that must be met to protect human health and aquatic life in classified waters. This presentation also provides an overview of the Clean Water Act and how water quality standards form a legal basis for controlling pollutants entering U.S. waters.