Three South Fork homeowners were chosen to be among the first in Suffolk County to test advanced septic systems that could help significantly lower how much nitrogen goes into the groundwater.
The county held a lottery in which residents could apply to have a system installed and monitored at no cost. In the first lottery, held at the end of 2015, 19 homeowners were selected to have septic systems installed—including Phil and Karen Smyth of East Quogue. This summer, another 20 were selected, among them Karen Deleski of Sag Harbor and Lee White of Montauk. None of the South Fork homeowners could be reached this week for comment.
At the 39 houses scattered throughout the county, health officials are testing six different septic systems manufactured by four different companies, including a Hydro-Action system installed last November at the Smyth home. County officials have not yet decided which types will be installed at the Montauk and Sag Harbor residences, but according to the maufacturers, each system produces wastewater that has less than 19 milligrams of nitrogen per liter—the county standard.
Homeowners who were not chosen in the lottery could have a second chance before the end of the year, according to County Legislator Bridget Fleming.
Officials expect to have at least one of the systems approved for general use by the end of the summer, with another four likely to be approved by the end of the year.
They are being very cautious with it, because this is all new technology and the last thing they want to do is to approve a system that might fail," Ms. Fleming said.
To prepare for the moment when a new type of system is approved, County Executive Steve Bellone signed legislation last week that amends the County Sanitary Code, explained Vanessa Baird-Streeter, a county spokesperson. The code will now allow the Health Department to monitor six septic systems being tested at private homes and allow them to be approved for widespread use in the future.
This was the first time the legislation had been updated since 1973.
"For the East End this is a really meaningful change," Ms. Fleming said. "We don't have sewers. The sanitary code up until now was really focused on sewers. ... There was no provision for these septic systems."
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on Aug 21, 2016