A pivotal time for Suffolk's water supply

On Long Island, we are lucky to enjoy a bountiful supply of water, trillions of gallons right below our feet. That makes us the envy of many parts of our country. In other states, every drop of water must be accounted for. It’s time that we, too, start treating our water supply with the same level of interest.

When I was appointed chairman of the Suffolk County Water Authority in May, I inherited a decadeslong legacy of providing safe drinking water. That legacy will continue under my leadership. But as I look at the landscape ahead, I see many challenges, two in particular. 

The first challenge is on the quantity side: the excessive use of water to irrigate lawns, particularly during the early-morning hours of summer lawn watering season. More customers are installing automatic sprinkler systems that drive up water use. To meet that demand, we must consider building expensive new infrastructure that will cost millions of dollars. In Western states, water providers have taken drastic actions to combat water shortages, like reducing water flow to those who violate irrigation rules. If we do not take stewardship of our aquifer seriously, we might need to consider stronger measures to limit water use, too.

The second challenge is that much of our infrastructure is aging beyond its useful life. Suffolk saw tremendous growth in the post-World War II boom, and with that came a huge amount of new water infrastructure. Those cast-iron pipes and bronze-screen wells are now almost 80 years old, well beyond the 50 years they were expected to last. That will mean more leaks and main breaks, higher costs for maintenance, and greater risk of a well failure that could hinder our ability to meet demand.

These are substantial challenges to keeping costs, and thus rates, low. To address these obstacles, I pledge that SCWA will always run in a lean and efficient manner. Our newly released Strategic Plan 2030 provides the blueprint to help us maintain our position as a nationwide leader. We will implement new smart technologies that alert us earlier to problems like leaks and water quality issues, and will create a comprehensive asset management and preventive maintenance program, keeping our assets in good working order.

SCWA will place a greater emphasis on sustainability, seeking to deliver water to the East End without putting additional strain on its sensitive aquifer. We continue to seek grant opportunities from the federal and state government to reduce the cost for major projects. This helps us stay ahead of the curve so we can maintain, replace and build new infrastructure that reliably delivers the highest-quality water.

We can all do our part to reduce water use and preserve the aquifer for future generations. Follow the mandatory odd/even lawn watering schedule this summer, where homes or businesses with odd-numbered addresses water on odd-numbered days of the calendar and homes with even-numbered addresses water on even-numbered days. Lawns do not need to be watered daily; in fact, it can be counterproductive, as daily watering inhibits deep root growth.

Install water-saving devices like smart controllers and pressure regulators for your automatic sprinkler systems and always look for the EPA WaterSense label. Other communities that implemented these strategies see as much as a 30% drop in peak demand, which could help us avoid having to add more wells, pump stations, tanks and other water infrastructure.

We are all in this together and our actions impact the future of drinking water in Suffolk County.

This guest essay reflects the views of Charles Lefkowitz, chairman of the Suffolk County Water Authority.