Port Washington Water District to treat 'forever chemicals' in well with new carbon system

New York State has awarded another $5 million grant to the Port Washington Water District to build a granular activated carbon treatment system designed to remove PFOA and PFOS contamination from another of its wells.

The grant will help the water district, which serves about 9,400 households, provide “water that meets or exceeds any standard out there” for removing PFOA and PFOS chemicals, district superintendent Paul Prignano said in an interview.

PFOA and PFOS are known as “forever chemicals” because they do not break down in the environment or the body and can cause health problems when ingested.

“It’s like a big Brita filter,” Prignano said of granular activated carbon treatment systems. “You pour the water in the top, and the water goes through the granular activated carbon, and then it winds up in your pitcher. That carbon gets disposed of. We just have it on a larger scale.”

This marks the second $5 million state grant the district has received this year to install a granular activated carbon treatment system, which treated a different well.

Prignano said he expects construction on the filtration system to begin in the first quarter of next year. Once it is completed, he said, 10 of the district’s 12 wells will be equipped with the technology. PFOS and PFOA have not been detected in the district’s other two wells, he added.

The water district is aiming to meet a 2024 federal guideline that required no more than 4 parts per trillion of PFOS and PFOA in drinking water by 2029. Last month, the Environmental Protection Agency pushed the deadline to 2031.

A recent Newsday analysis of federal data found that seven of 36 Long Island water districts that have submitted data so far had at least one "forever chemical" above the future limit of 4 parts per trillion. The limits are being challenged in court by PFAS manufacturers and trade groups. The future federal metric is more stringent than New York's limit of 10 parts per trillion, which was established in 2020.

“We’ve got all these projects in the works, they’re already in our plan to do over the next couple of years,” Prignano said. “I believe they’re going to come out with the regulation anyway, and if they don’t, New York State is going to do it on their own.”

Adrienne Esposito, executive director of Citizens Campaign for the Environment, said in an interview that the grant will “not only make sure water is clean and safe for the public, but also continues to be affordable.” 

“It’s expensive, and it’s getting more expensive,” Esposito said of granular activated carbon treatment systems. “If grants were not available, the water suppliers would still have to obtain these water filtration devices, but then they’d have to recoup the cost of that through water rates.”

The Village of Williston Park recently raised its water rates 33% to help subsidize a new filtration system, Newsday has reported. Huntington Town last month approved millions in bonding for upgrades in the Dix Hills, Greenlawn and South Huntington water districts to treat contamination. The Village of Hempstead aims to build a new $55 million water treatment system to replace its current plant on Clinton Street, Newsday has reported.

The state funding was among $37 million awarded to help build various water infrastructure projects across the state.

"The Port Washington project is a crucial investment that will enhance and protect our water infrastructure for future generations while reducing the financial burden on our local taxpayers," Rep. Tom Suozzi (D-Glen Cove) said in a statement.

By Joshua Needelman

joshua.needelman@newsday.com

Joshua Needelman covers the Town of North Hempstead for Newsday. A Long Island native and University of Maryland graduate, his work has appeared in publications including The New York Times and The Washington Post.