Pittsford's New Litta Traps: How the Village Is Keeping Plastic and Pollution Out of Local Waterways
The Short Version
- New Litta Trap inlet filters have been quietly installed in every catch basin in the Village of Pittsford — so next time it rains, something different is happening beneath every street drain.
- A Litta Trap is a modular basket that captures trash, debris, sediment, and pollutants before stormwater reaches local creeks, Irondequoit Bay, and Lake Ontario — the filtered water passes through, the junk stays behind.
- With over 65,000 installations worldwide, it's North America's most widely used catch basin filter — Pittsford isn't experimenting, it's adopting something proven.
- Every cigarette butt, plastic wrapper, and road salt deposit that used to flow straight from village streets into the watershed now has something standing in the way.
- This is the kind of infrastructure investment that never makes a headline but quietly matters — and the village deserves credit for making it.
Next time it rains, something new is happening beneath every street drain in the Village of Pittsford. New Litta Trap inlet filters have been quietly installed in Village catch basins — a practical, low-profile investment in keeping what flows off our streets out of the waterways we care about.
What Is a Litta Trap?
What Is a Litta Trap?
A Litta Trap is a modular basket-style filter that sits inside a stormwater catch basin — the drain inlets you see along the curb. When rainwater flows in off the street, it passes through the basket, which captures trash, debris, sediment, and other pollutants before they can flow downstream into pipes and eventually into local creeks, Irondequoit Bay, and Lake Ontario. The filtered water passes through to the outlet pipe. The basket lifts out for maintenance and can be emptied by hand or by vacuum truck.
The design is engineered to handle heavy flow events too — during high flows, a bypass system prevents the filter from backing up water onto the street. It is durable, lightweight, and carries an eight-year warranty. With over 65,000 installations worldwide, it is North America's most widely used catch basin filter.
Why It Matters for Pittsford
Why It Matters for Pittsford
Stormwater runoff is one of the most direct ways that everyday pollution — cigarette butts, plastic wrappers, road salt, sediment — travels from village streets into local waterways. Every time it rains, that runoff carries whatever is sitting on the pavement straight into the drain and, without any filtration, directly into the watershed.
The Village's investment in Litta Traps is part of a broader commitment to meeting environmental regulations and protecting the quality of local water. Pittsford sits within the Irondequoit Creek watershed, which drains into Irondequoit Bay and Lake Ontario. What goes into a Village catch basin on a rainy Tuesday in April is connected to the health of that whole system.
A Quiet Infrastructure Win
A Quiet Infrastructure Win
This is the kind of village investment that rarely gets a ribbon-cutting — no ceremony, no announcement event. A crew installs baskets in drain inlets, and the work of protecting local water quality begins. It is infrastructure that belongs to all of us, doing its job every time it rains.
Mayor Alysa S. Plummer announced the installation in the April 2026 Village Bulletin as part of the Village's ongoing green initiatives. The filters complement the Town's H2O Hero stormwater education program, which encourages residents to reduce pollutants that enter the watershed from their own properties.
For more on the Village's environmental efforts, visit villageofpittsfordny.gov.
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