Suffolk County Water Authority installs filtration systems to treat 1,4-dioxane in Kings Park

The Suffolk County Water Authority installed filtration systems at two wells in Kings Park to remove 1,4-dioxane, a likely carcinogen, from the drinking water supply, officials said.

The water authority installed two new advanced oxidation processing systems at a well field it operates on Old Dock Road. The $5 million project included the cost of the two advanced oxidation processing systems as well as a building to house them.

The Environmental Protection Agency's website lists 1,4-dioxane as a “likely human carcinogen” that has been found in groundwater at sites across the country.

The water authority used $900,000 in state grants from the New York Environmental Facilities Corp. to pay for both systems, according to a news release.

Dan Dubois, an authority spokesman, said the work allowed the agency to bring two wells with contamination back into service.

“Our ultimate goal is to make sure that there is no 1,4-dioxane in any of the water we deliver to our customers,” Dubois said. “At this point, we’re in full compliance and we have been for a number of years.”

Water districts are required to meet stricter federal and state standards to remove forever chemicals from the drinking water supply. Some districts have hiked water rates to fund the cost of the new systems.

The water authority recently completed other projects in the hamlet.

In August, the authority finished a project to replace dead ends in its water filtration system. Water authority crews replaced 1,300 feet of water main and added hundreds of feet of new main under Sunken Meadow Road in Kings Park.

The work added pipe to connect Broadview Avenue and Oakhill Lane, where there had not been any water mains, Dubois said. The installations were designed to improve the flow of water.

“It created redundancies in the system so that water could flow more freely. We can move water around for fire protection and get stronger flow for fire hydrants,” Dubois said.

The agency usually replaces up to 30 miles of water main across its systems in Suffolk annually, Dubois said.

The Kings Park section where the work occurred involved a “dead end," meaning the water had nowhere else to go.

The agency targeted the area as part of ongoing efforts to eliminate dead ends in the systems so water can circulate continuously, Dubois said.