The Plainview Water District (PWD) is requesting a $25.8 million bond to fund infrastructure projects for the treatment of 1,4-dioxane. The bond hearing is being held at the Town of Oyster Bay town hall Tuesday 11/19 at 10am.

The New York State Department of Health (NYSDOH) is expected to regulate 1,4-dioxane in the near future. The PWD has been planning for treatment ahead of regulations. The Drinking Water Council, appointed by the Governor Cuomo, recommended a maximum level of 1 part-per-billion for 1,4-dioxane and the NYSDOH Commissioner accepted those recommendations. Since this is a new treatment process, pilot studies are required by State and Local Health Departments at each individual water plant site and the District has completed four such pilots at water plants in recent months.  The District agrees with the need for treatment and the District has urged NYSDOH for the time needed to build effective treatment. The District is also involved in litigation to hold polluters responsible for costs incurred for these projects.

This $25.8 million dollar bond is necessary now to provide the PWD with funding that will enable us continue to deliver the highest quality of water to all of our customers.

Plant was Designed to Treat Volatile Organic Compounds and 1,4-Dioxane

The Plainview Water District recently broke ground on a state-of-the-art treatment facility located at the District’s headquarters. The upgrades to this existing treatment facility have been specifically designed to remove volatile organic compounds (VOC) from up to four million gallons of drinking water per day. This facility has also been designed to incorporate an Advanced Oxidation Process (AOP) system, which is needed to remove 1,4-dioxane. The District anticipates the plant will be up and running mid 2020.

“This is a big milestone for the Plainview Water District and the entire Plainview-Old Bethpage community,” said Marc Laykind, Chairman of the Board of Commissioners. “We work tirelessly to provide high-quality drinking water to our residents and the construction of this facility will aide our mission for decades to come.”

With more than $2.6 million received in grant funding for this VOC project, plus additional reserve funds being used, the Plainview Water District has fast tracked plans to build a $7.6 million Granular Activated Carbon (GAC) filtration system. Soon after the GAC system is installed, the District plans to begin the installation of an AOP system.  The installation of this technology will allow the District to optimize the use of two existing wells located at the site.

“Months of planning to improve the resiliency of our water system have come to fruition,” said Commissioner Andrew Bader. “The support from New York State and its willingness to invest in our community is significant. We appreciate the attention being paid to improving drinking water throughout Long Island.”

The GAC system is designed to remove VOCs that are being detected in the groundwater at the plant’s two production wells. Several years ago, routine water quality sampling detected an elevation of VOCs at one of the two wells and the District immediately took it out of service. The new facility will pump raw groundwater through four, 12-foot diameter GAC vessels that each hold 20,000 pounds of granular activated carbon to remove the target compounds. After GAC treatment, the water is chlorinated for disinfection and adjusted for pH prior to being delivered to residents’ taps. Use of GAC is also an integral part of the process for removing 1,4-dioxane.

“The Plainview Water District continues to be proactive in taking action against any contaminant found in our sole-source aquifer,” said Commissioner Amanda Field. “We hope our residents take comfort in knowing that the Plainview Water District is not only implementing the most sophisticated treatment technology, but we are working tirelessly to ensure grant funding is in place so POB residents bear as little of the cost as possible.”

For further information, or if you have any questions, please call the District at 516-931-6469, email info@plainviewwater.org or visit www.plainviewwater.org. To receive regular updates from the Plainview Water District, please sign up for email updates on the District’s homepage. Don’t forget to stay connected to the Plainview Water District on Facebook at www.facebook.com/PlainviewWaterDistrict