Sewer Operations Volume

12/10/25

“How can we represent how much stormwater runoff from a building will enter the sewers at peak storm time?”

New buildings can generate large amounts of stormwater runoff if they increase impervious surface. This can overwhelm sewers if they’re not attenuated. To manage this, New York City has developed a concept called Sewer Operational Volume. Sewer operations volume is a volume that must be accounted for to attenuate the flow of a 10-year storm to the city sewers. Sewer operations volume is only met if you restrict flow to the maximum release rate for the site. Regulating sewer operations volume is critical for NYC to protect its residents from the worst impacts of climate change.