Villlage Ponders Solutions to "Dry Weather Flow"

by Judy Silberstein

Dry weather flows emanate from spots with orange dots. Source: Diagram prepared by Village Engineer Michael Lepre

(November 20, 2003) What should the Village of Larchmont do about “dry weather flow,” the water that comes dribbling or gushing from many Village homes at random times unrelated to any natural precipitation. Since the beginning of the year, Larchmont’s Environmental Committee has been puzzling over this issue. With the help of Village Engineer Mike Lepre and consultants from Dolph Rotfeld Engineering, the Committee is starting to formulate an approach, which Lepre shared with the Village Board on Monday, November 17.

Some of the possible solutions are relatively inexpensive and those that cost more could be subsidized by federal funds. But solving the problem should involve both the homeowner and the Village, stressed Environmental Committee Chair Patty Horing, who was unable to attend the Board presentation but provided comment the next day

Last winter, many Larchmont streets sported curious rows of salt a few feet out and parallel to the curbs. Turns out, the salt dams were purposely deposited by the Larchmont Department of Public Works in an effort to channel water from household sump pumps into the appropriate storm drains. Absent the salt, the water would spill into the roadway, freeze into black ice, and create safety hazards. However, salt is expensive and hard on shrubs and grass, and building the dams takes time and money.

Furthermore, the flow is illegal according to Village Code: “no fluid, except from rain or snow, shall be permitted to run from private premises upon any highway.” The Village is looking for a better way to tame the dry weather flow and help residents comply with the code. “A lot of people don’t even know they‘re in violation,” said Horing.

Finding a solution has been the first challenge for the newly constituted Larchmont Environmental Committee, which has been meeting only since the beginning of the year. Their role is to help the Board develop appropriate policy; the technical aspects are left up to the engineers, said Chairman Horing.

The engineers have been surveying the community to find where the water is coming from and Lepre summarized the findings on a giant blowup map shown to the Board. Dotting the map are approximately 80 spots indicating dry weather flows. For Lepre, though, not all dots were created equal.

Some of the dots represented “type 1” situations where the water is reasonably close to an existing storm drain. It wouldn’t take that much to hook these homes up properly, perhaps at a cost of less than $2000. Another set of dots are “type 2” – they’re not close to a drain, but they’re close to other dry weather flows. Adding an extra drain near a “type 2” cluster would make it relatively simple for all the homes to get a proper connection. A new drain might require as much as $100,000, but it could serve up to 24 residences and the federal government might pay for as much as 80% of the cost.

Some of the dots, though, are “type 3.” These are far from a drain and from other flows, so it would take more expense and effort to get them flowing into a proper outlet. Getting each of these residences on the right stream might cost $2000-$3000, Lepre predicted.

Mayor Ken Bialo praised both the Committee and the Village Engineer for their work on this thorny issue.The entire Board will be studying the situation further and awaiting more specific recommendations from the Environmental group on cost factors and on general policy. With this assistance, the Board then anticipates developing its policy to improve compliance and stanch the dry weather flow.

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