Residents on the Riverhead side of Manorville whose wells are contaminated with the emerging contaminant PFAS will soon have access to public water, after the Suffolk County Water Authority broke ground last week on a project to connect 64 homes to the public water system.
Pictured Above: Work began on the project on Aug. 23. |. Suffolk County Water Authority Photo
The Water Authority connected 78 homes on the Brookhaven side of Manorville to public water last winter while Riverhead awaited final approval on a complex mix of federal, county and Water Authority funding.
“This project will finally bring clean water to the good people of Manorville,” said Riverhead Town Supervisor at the Aug. 23 announcement of the commencement of the project. “Thanks to the funding from our Federal Elected Officials, The Suffolk County Water Authority and the Riverhead Water District can now start the long-awaited process providing safe water to the residents of Manorville.”
The project, which includes 21,000 feet of new water mains, is being conducted jointly by the Town of Riverhead and SCWA, after the Suffolk County Department of Health Services found PFAS contamination in levels above the current state standard of 10 parts per trillion in 2017. In 2022, Riverhead Town agreed to use grant money to expand public water access in the area to help fund the project, while SCWA built and maintained the infrastructure. Residents who connect to public water will become SCWA customers.
Riverhead Town received $3.6 million from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, sponsored by Senator Charles Schumer, Senator Kirsten Gillibrand and former Representative Lee Zeldin, along with a $3.8 million grant through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. Suffolk County provided $1.3 million in American Rescue Plan Act funds to install private service lines to each home, and the Water Authority approved a $2.4 million credit towards the project to allow residents to connect at no cost.
“Our chief priority at the Suffolk County Water Authority is to provide Suffolk County residents with high-quality drinking water and service they can rely on,” said SCWA Chairman Charles Lefkowitz. “Connecting homes to our public supply protects public health, as these residents will soon no longer need to be concerned about dangerous levels of PFAS in their drinking water.”
PFAS are chemicals that had historically been used in treatments to protect carpets, clothing, furniture fabrics, paper packaging for food and non-stick cookware. They are also used in firefighting foams. The EPA, has conduced human studies that found associations between the compounds and “several types of health effects including the liver, the immune system, the cardiovascular system, human development (e.g., decreased birth weight) and cancer.”
New water main will be installed on David Terry Road, Wading River Manor Road, River Road, Old River Road and other side streets in the area, says the Water Authority, which expects to begin connecting homes to the service in November.
