Safe Drinking Water For Wainscott: Water Mains Almost Completed

WAINSCOTT, NY — Just in time for the holidays, the Suffolk County Water Authority and the Town of East Hampton announced a gift for Wainscott residents, "the imminent completion of one of the most ambitious infrastructure projects in SCWA’s near 70-year history."

Over the past four months, SCWA oversaw the installation of approximately 45,000 feet of new water main in Wainscott, a release from East Hampton Town said. The project, the largest water main installation SCWA has undertaken in nearly 20 years, was designed to bring safe drinking water to an area impacted by perfluorinated chemicals. The last 1,000 feet of water main will be installed the first week of January, town officials said.

Private service lines are currently being installed to connect the plumbing of participating homes and businesses to the new water main — and to date, 124 properties have been hooked up to safe public water out of the approximately 520 in the project area, the release said.

“I am so happy to have Suffolk County Water Authority water,” said Wainscott resident Lynn Grossman. “Thank you, Supervisor Van Scoyoc and East Hampton Town, and thank you, SCWA, for making this project a priority. Having clean, potable water is so important.”

“This is exactly why the Suffolk County Water Authority was created 67 years ago. To make sure that all Suffolk County residents have access to clean, safe drinking water,” said SCWA Chairman Patrick Halpin. “This project is a great example of government working together at all levels to get things done. The installation of more than eight and a half miles of water main, completed in record time, just four months, is a testament to the incredible staff we have here at the Water Authority.”

SCWA Chief Executive Officer Jeffrey W. Szabo also thanked East Hampton Supervisor Peter Van Scoyoc and the full East Hampton town board for their "steadfast support" in making the project unfold so quickly. “Wainscott residents will now have a drinking water supply that is safe and reliable," he said.

“Ensuring that residents of Wainscott have access to safe drinking water has been my top priority in light of concerns about chemical contamination,” said Van Scoyoc. “Water mains have been extended in record time thanks to our partnership with the Water Authority. We have also been able to achieve nearly $10 million in savings for East Hampton taxpayers through a successful joint grant application for state funds for the project.”

The Suffolk County Department of Health Services confirmed the presence of pefluorooctane sulfonate, or PFOS, and perfluorooctanoic acid, or PFOA, in more than 150 private wells in the impacted area, located south of the East Hampton Airport, with a small number of private wells showing detections over the health advisory level of 70 parts per trillion, the town said.

"The completion of this project means that every person in Wainscott can turn on the tap in their home and be confident that their drinking water is safe,” said New York State Assemblyman Fred Thiele.

“The residents of Wainscott, like all of our communities, deserve access to clean safe drinking water,” added Suffolk County Legislator Bridget Fleming.

Ductile iron water main between 6" and 16" in diameter was installed; copper and HDPE private service lines connecting the water main to each impacted home will continue to be installed in the coming weeks, along with the installation of meters and meter vaults among other project elements, town officials said.

Existing private wells will be disconnected from the internal plumbing of homes within the project area to prevent the possibility of cross-contamination with the public water system, officials added.

Patch photos courtesy East Hampton Town.