Oakland Public Work’s Bureau of Design and Construction and Bureau of Maintenance and Internal Services owns and operates over 932 miles of sewer mains, ranging from six inches to over 66 inches in diameter, 28,554 sewer structures, and 11 pump stations. Most of the system is more than 50 years old, and some parts are as old as 100 years. Wastewater from homes and businesses is collected through the City's sewer collection system and flows into East Bay Municipal Utility District's (EBMUD) interceptor system, where it is conveyed to their treatment plant.
Public Works provides direct tenant services to a wide variety of client agencies, including custodial services, building engineering, security and access controls, air quality monitoring, emergency response and property management.
We are responsible for the maintenance of parks, medians, waterfront trails and open space properties in Oakland. Visit Oakland Parks, Recreation, & Youth Development for information on classes, reserving facilities and other services.
Fats, Oils and Grease from everyday cooking can create massive problems in Oakland's sewers.
Volunteer to clean, green, and beautify Oakland! Each year thousands of people pitch in on a variety of projects such as litter and graffiti removal, landscaping, tree planting, habitat restoration, fire fuels management, and mosaic artwork installation. Public Works sponsors two annual City wide events for Oakland Earth Day and Oakland Creek to Bay Day. Public Works also supports MLK Day of Service, as well as volunteer projects throughout the year by groups and individuals looking to give back to their community.
Resources for Volunteer Event Site Managers
"Out of the mountain of despair, a stone of hope." – Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
Oakland Parks & Recreation is gardening with a purpose, with 16 locations that bring people of all ages and diverse backgrounds together to grow organic vegetables, herbs, fruits and flowers.
On September 21, 2019, Oakland, San Francisco, and San Jose challenged each other to a friendly competition as part of California Coastal Cleanup Day to see which city could engage the most volunteers and stage the biggest and most impactful cleanup. Projects included trash removal, habitat restoration, tree planting, and beautification. Oakland had a total of 55 registered volunteer sites throughout the City’s neighborhoods and coastline. With a record breaking 2,170 volunteers putting in more than 7,183 collective service hours, it was a great success for the Town. Together, Oaklanders picked up 109,460 pounds of trash, sorted 2,859 pounds of recyclables, cleared 37 storm drains, and cleaned 11 miles of shoreline! A huge thank you to the Oakland communities that came together on this day and showed some love to their neighborhoods.
Support of community stewardship of Oakland’s public spaces through volunteer cleaning, greening, and beautification.
The City contracts with the non-profit Lake Merritt Institute to remove litter along the shoreline, maintain trash booms and aeration fountains, provide education for schools and businesses, and coordinate volunteers in these activities.
Team Oakland is a City-sponsored summer employment program for Oakland youth between the ages of 15 and 24. Team Oakland participants gain practical job training experience through meaningful beautification and cleanup projects. Youth engage in crew based work on cleanups, park maintenance, habitat restoration, fire fuel management, community outreach, and trainings on work, life and environmental topics. Team Oakland is administered by Oakland Public Works through a contract with a local employment development organization. Team Oakland began in 1993.
We provide maps, data and other resources to help the public explore the city's plans, projects and services.
The Keep Oakland Clean & Beautiful (KOCB) division of Oakland Public Works is responsible for regularly scheduled street sweeping, City-wide litter reduction, maintenance of sidewalk litter containers, keeping paved medians and City-owned lots free of overgrown vegetation, pick-up of illegal dumping on streets, graffiti removal from public property, and cleanup of homeless encampments.