Love Stinks? Tours Of Brooklyn Sewage Treatment Plant Popular On Valentine's Day
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) - Love is in the air for dozens of couples taking part in a unique Valentine's Day event.
Couples looking for an unconventional Valentine's Day visited the Newtown Creek Wastewater treatment plant in Greenpoint, Brooklyn.
"New York City sewage sludge. There's all kinds of names for that, but we're gonna call it sewage sludge," plant superintendent Jim Pynn said. "It smells like what you thought it would smell like, but that's part of the experience!"
A couple on the tour agreed that it was a Valentine's Day to remember.
"You're supposed to do something special on Valentine's Day, so this is definitely something special," said Lowell, who took a tour with his Valentine Grace. "It was her idea so I get credit for that for actually coming here with her."
The plant had to offer an extra tour this year due to popular demand, according to Pynn.
Love Stinks? Tours Of Brooklyn Sewage Treatment Plant Popular On Valentine's Day
"Maybe it's not romantic, but it is inspiring and I think people usually come away with a warm feeling. So that warmth is the beginning of something later, hopefully," Pynn told 1010 WINS' John Montone.
As part of the tour, visitors stand atop the 140-foot high digester eggs that break down noxious waste into harmless sludge and gas.
"I think long walks on the beach are overdone," Pynn told WCBS 880's Alex Silverman.
The platform above the eight digester eggs boasts stunning views of the Manhattan skyline. But below, the eggs emit an odor one would expect from a sewage treatment plant.
"The digester eggs are just like your belly," Pynn said. "The stuff that you didn't finish eating, we take the rest of it and we take it in these metal eggs, we heat it up to 98 degrees, we keep them well mixed and they make digester gas which we use as a fuel source."
Love Stinks? Tours Of Brooklyn Sewage Treatment Plant Popular On Valentine's Day
The city Department of Environmental Protection Agency last week announced a third tour had to be added on Valentine's Day due to high demand. Couples got to visit the site at 9:30 a.m., 11 a.m., and 1 p.m.
The plant holds monthly tours, but the Valentine's Day tour comes with a Hershey's kiss at the end.
Would you ever surprise your Valentine with a tour of a sewage treatment plant? Sound off in the comments section below...
