Long Island To Vote On Water Reuse Referendum In November

A referendum on the ballot in Suffolk County, NY, seeks to recharge underground water tables by reusing treated wastewater. The ballot item asks voters to amend the Suffolk County Water Quality Restoration Act by adding 13 words to the section on what the fund for the act would finance: “…and projects for the reuse of treated effluent from such wastewater treatment facilities.”

Suffolk County is 25% sewered. Nearly all treated wastewater is dumped into the Long Island Sound, Atlantic Ocean, or other coastal bodies. The result has been an increasing strain on both groundwater and surface water sources.