Two new Advanced Oxidation Process (AOP) water treatment systems have been completed and put into service in the Town of Huntington by the Suffolk County Water Authority. These state-of-the-art treatment systems are specifically designed to remove the emerging contaminant 1,4-dioxane from the drinking water SCWA supplies. The new systems treat water from two separate public supply wells on Middleville Road in Northport. The water from these wells supplies homes in that area and the Northport Veterans Affairs Medical Center.
SCWA Chairman Charles Lefkowitz said, “The Suffolk County Water Authority continues to add to our arsenal of powerful treatment systems that remove 1,4-dioxane in drinking water. AOP is highly sophisticated equipment to install and maintain. Our operations team continues to become more efficient, allowing us to put more systems into service. We continue to be well ahead of the curve in dealing with these harmful contaminants.”
Prior to having these systems in place, SCWA restricted the operation of impacted wells to minimize the public’s exposure to these contaminants. One of the two wells at the site had been out of service since September 2020 due to elevated levels of 1,4-dioxane. With the new treatment systems in place, the affected wells return to regular service, easing those constraints on the infrastructure and restoring 2,000 gallons per minute of capacity to the system.
The newly operational treatment systems were partially funded with assistance from New York State. SCWA was awarded grant funding by the New York State Environmental Facilities Corporation through the Water Infrastructure Improvement Act in 2019. In total, $1.8 million in assistance was awarded by the state for these projects.
SCWA developed the first AOP system in New York State, with the purpose of destroying 1,4-dioxane in drinking water. AOPs work by adding a small amount of an oxidant into the water—in this case hydrogen peroxide—that passes through an ultraviolet light reactor destroying the 1,4-dioxane molecules. From there, the water then travels through two Granular Activated Carbon (GAC) filtration vessels—industrial-sized carbon filters, which hold 20,000 pounds of carbon medium each—so any remaining detections of the oxidant, as well as other volatile organic compounds, can be removed before water goes through the rest of the treatment and delivery process. This treatment process duo is the only method approved by state and local health departments to remove 1,4-dioxane.
About the Suffolk County Water Authority:
The Suffolk County Water Authority is an independent public-benefit corporation operating under the authority of the Public Authorities Law of the State of New York. Serving approximately 1.2 million Suffolk County residents, the Authority operates without taxing power on a not-for-profit basis.