North Sea Beach Colony To Be Guinea Pig For Peconic Baykeeper's Septic Improvement Program

Three lucky North Sea Beach Colony homeowners will have their antiquated cesspools replaced with nitrogen-reducing septic systems over the winter—and it won’t cost them a dime.

According to Sean O’Neill, president of Peconic Baykeeper, a Quogue-based nonprofit organization dedicated to protecting clean drinking water, the homeowners were chosen as part of a pilot program, spearheaded by the organization, to reduce nitrogen pollution on the East End.

He explained that outdated cesspools are the number-one cause of nitrogen pollution on Long Island, and that the program will eventually expand to allow entire communities to replace their septic systems with FujiClean CEN—one of six nitrogen-reducing septic systems approved by Suffolk County—at no cost.

Currently, both Suffolk County and the Town of Southampton offer septic system rebates to reimburse homeowners for the initial installation costs, which average about $20,000 per system, including labor and engineering costs.

However, Mr. O’Neill said on Tuesday that not many homeowners are jumping on the opportunity because they don’t have the money to cover upfront costs. Under the Septic Improvement Program, those costs would instead be fronted by the nonprofit and reimbursed with Community Preservation Fund revenues.

The estimated $80,000 price tag for phase one of the project is being funded with contributions from The Moore Charitable Foundation of New York City, and Diana Taylor, a Peconic Baykeeper board member.

As part of the pilot program, a fourth FujiClean system will be installed at the new Peconic Baykeeper headquarters on Red Creek Road in Hampton Bays.

Phase two of the program is expected to begin next year and will convert 20 additional outdated cesspools. Phase three will follow suit with the installation of 20 more FujiClean systems in 2020.

Of the 62 properties in the North Sea Beach Colony, roughly 40 homeowners have signed up, Mr. O’Neill said, noting that buying the systems in bulk will provide cost savings. “It’s like going to Costco over going to the boutique store,” he said.

The $20,000 systems will be distributed and installed by Advanced Wastewater Solutions of North Sea, which will be in charge of routinely testing and maintaining the installed systems.

The latest testing of the FujiClean system found 8.1 milligrams of nitrogen per liter of water—or 67 percent less than the legal limit of 19 milligrams set by the Suffolk County Department of Health Services, according to Bryan McGowin, president and owner of Advanced Wastewater Solutions.

“I’ve dealt with just about every system on the market. Fuji is by far the world’s best system,” he said.

Mr. O’Neill agreed: “If you care about water quality, this is the single biggest environmental positive deed you can do on your property—and it doesn’t cost you anything.”