ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) - More than 100 years of toilet flushes have been draining into the Hudson River from a historic building in downtown Albany because of an underground plumbing mistake just discovered by city officials.
City Water Commissioner Joe Coffey tells the Albany Times-Union the five-story Argus building was never hooked into the sewer system when the city installed new lines in 1913. Instead, its sewage line connected to a storm drain feeding directly into the river.
The state Department of Environmental Conservation estimated the rate of sewage discharge at around five gallons a minute.
Officials unearthed the problem last week during work at a neighboring building. City crews will fix the problem and use dye tests to look for other improper hookups.
The Argus building has about 30 apartments and a market.
Please read our comment policy before commenting.