| THE MYTH OF "PUBLIC WATER"
People think that if they have "public water" everything is hunky dory. It is not. On the South Fork-"public water" and our "private wells" all draw water from the same source-our underground aquifer. On the South Fork we rely mainly on the "Upper Glacial Aquifer" for our drinking water, because our "Magothy" aquifer, which is under the Upper Glacial, is for the most part salty; and, we don't have any "Lloyd" aquifer, (the bottommost and most ancient aquifer), to speak of, as they do west of the Shinnecock Canal. Since it is cost prohibitive to pipe water from the west across the Shinnecock Canal to the east we have to keep our Upper Glacial Aquifer from getting contaminated. Unfortunately, in many areas of the South Fork, the Upper Glacial is already contaminated (from industrial, oil , MTBE spills, landfill leachate, salt water intrusion, high-iron content, agriculture, golf courses, etc)-thereby affecting both the "Public Water" provided by the Suffolk County Water Authority (SCWA), and, people's own private wells. Some "public wells" have had to be shut down on the south fork because of pesticide contamination, while other "public wells" have to be treated with costly and elaborate filtering systems to filter out the contaminants-and even then, some of these contaminants may remain at so-called "acceptable levels" after filtration.
A look at the Suffolk County Water Authority's 2001 "Annual Water Report" shows that some areas in western Suffolk have "treated" water (as opposed to "raw" untreated water) that still contains high levels of volatile organic chemicals even after treatment. That's scary, and, a portent of things to come, for the increased development we've been experiencing brings with it, more contamination. If Southampton and East Hampton Towns can't purchase land in critical deep-water recharge watershed areas to protect the high-quality, high quantity deep-water recharge parts of our aquifer, they have to limit building density and noxious uses such as golf courses, etc. in these designated areas by wise land use through zoning laws in order to protect the integrity of our drinking water. Especially as the Suffolk County Water Authority's public wells are not necessarily sited in optimum areas. In fact, some are sited in areas of high pesticide pollution.
Also, public and private wells have not been tested for everything that's out there. In studies of some community wells and private wells conducted by the Suffolk County Department of Health Services between 1998-2001 they were finding degradates (break-down products) of pesticides that were equally noxious, if not more so, than their parent pesticides. Also, they were finding heart medication, antidepressants, caffeine, household cleaners, over-the-counter drugs, and viruses in drinking water. Besides, not knowing the effects of the degradates, and all these other contaminants, the Department says they know nothing of the synergistic effects of all these degradates on our health.
 South Fork Groundwater Task Force
PO BOX 2360 Sag Harbor, NY 11963
Phone/Fax: 631 - 725 - 6200
Site By: Hamptons Online
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