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THINGS THE SUFFOLK COUNTY WATER AUTHORITY NEVER TOLD US
Julie Penny
OUR TOWN
March 1, 2001
It is possible that as more of us switch over to public water we will be lulled into a false sense of security and complacency. Once we're hooked up to that big spigot in the sky, we might be tempted to swill away gallons of water without a second thought. Or, to dump Liquid Plumber, Tide and Lysol down our drains with impunity. Will it matter to us if our neighbors are still using their own private wells? After all, we'll have the convenience and the assurance that our public water taps are delivering fairly healthy water to our households. No fears of coliform bacteria, or, pesticides or nitrates over the "maximum allowable limit". No salt-water intrusion, or, bad-tasting water with high iron content that leaves rust-colored toilet and tub rings. Will it matter to us that what we dump down our drains spreads into our neighbors' wells as long as we're off the hook?
Last year, the developer for Golf at the Bridge brought in public water to its development. Looks like they won't be using private wells for its subdivision. It's interesting that while the surrounding neighborhood drinks the water from their own private wells, the well-heeled on the hill will be drinking public water without fear of future contamination from the golf course. But, for how long? At the peak of the moraine, contaminated water from the golf course can eventually fan out to the public well-head that serves them.
Except for those areas surrounding the Noyac golf course, where wells are tainted by pesticides or their degradents, most of Noyac enjoys the purest water to be had anywhere in the world. It is the locale where the South Fork's best and most voluminous reserves of potable water exist. The Suffolk County Water Authority needs to stick a straw into this important reserve for the rest of us to suck up, but it doesn't have the authority to acquire such a critical watershed area like the 516-acre Golf at the Bridge property to guarantee the public the highest quality well-head on the South Fork.
We must always remember that "public water" is no panacea for the South Fork's water problems. It is, undoubtedly, a needed remedy for those experiencing real and threatening problems with their own private wells. But in the greater scheme of things, "public water" is only a short-term solution, because both public water and private wells get their water from the same place--the ground beneath our feet. And, "public water" well-heads aren't always situated in safe protected places. Many public wells were, and, are, sited in agricultural areas polluted by nitrates and pesticides. Some of these "public wells" are so contaminated that they can no longer furnish "public water". Others, need to have expensive and elaborate carbon filtering systems as big as a house to remediate out the toxics. Blasted by toxic spills, landfill leacheate, widespread nitrate and pesticide use, pollution and loss of recharge capability from unabated development, the Suffolk County Water Authority will be hard-pressed to furnish high-quality well-head sites in the future considering the rate at which we've been insulting this irreplaceable natural resource. They are limited as to where they can sink their well-heads, as the best well-head sites exist on "private property" threatened by, or, under, development. They therefore, have to sink their wells on the best of the inferior alternative sites.
The Suffolk County Water Authority (SCWA), the purveyor of our most basic and necessary element, is not a government agency as many believe. It is a public benefit corporation. It is a law unto itself that can conflict with both Southampton and East Hampton on certain issues. It needs a client base in order to make it cost effective to deliver water. Yet, development eventually leads to greater need of water--it's a vicious cycle. SCWA depends on a customer base to earn its keep.
In the headlong rush to push the concept of public water on all of us, the Suffolk County Water Authority is not talking about all the ramifications of switching to public water, some of them harmful--but on some points, the Suffolk County Health Department is. By this, I mean the simple mechanics of retiring a private well, for the switch-over to public water. While private wells with suction pumps pose no hazard to the environment, the abandonment of the older "submersible" pumps does. There are many residents on the South Fork who have these older submersible pumps. Just "capping" these submersible wells for the switchover to public water is insufficient. Merely abandoning these wells leaves them prey to damaging consequences. At present, there are no regulations to see to it that the retirement of these wells is done correctly. In proper well abandonment, a contractor removes the internal apparatus of the old pumps, which are filled with oil and PCB's. If this is not done, or, done improperly, it is a conduit for seepage of these noxious agents into our water-table. Proper removal then, means a homeowner shelling out even more money, on top of that paid to the Suffolk County Water Authority for a hook-up.
Just think of all those switchovers that have already taken place improperly in so far as its been unregulated and not required by law; the protocol for proper well abandonment has been, by and large, ignored. Homeowners have made the switch unaware of the potential for leakage. They don't stop to think that there could possibly be a problem as it's not within their frame of reference. And, SCWA isn't telling them either. As it's unregulated and not compulsory, many won't bother to pay extra to have it done correctly, as just paying for a public-water hook-up is expensive enough in and of itself. Just do the math and think of the mounting hazard this places on our potable water supply.
Another aspect of public water is its chlorination. While the additive kills pathogens and bacteria, concentrations of chlorine differ throughout the public water system. For example, most of Hampton Bays uses less chlorine than does parts of Southampton east of the canal. The use of chlorine is under a great deal of research scrutiny as chlorine reacts chemically with organic matter and produces a number of different by-products including trichloromethanes (THM's). The level of toxicity of these THM's has been continually debated and little agreement reached on the "allowable" intake levels before human health is adversely effected. Research continues. California studies have shown that in some parts of L.A. where concentrations of chlorine are higher, women have a higher rate of miscarriages. What we do know is that chlorine has an adverse effect on the flora lining our intestines and, therefore, on absorption.
All told (and, untold) we should demand strong stewardship by our municipalities in protecting every aspect of our groundwater resource--it's a finite and valuable commodity. The concept of hooking up to public water as a cure-all, is, in the end, a false one. Our prime deep-water recharge "Special Groundwater Protection Areas" are liquid gold, our money in the bank, that our Towns musn't squander.
 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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