Shelter Island Water Committee discusses more home testing
Following the testing of water potability in Center homes, residents in areas of the Near Shore and Peninsula Overlay District have questioned when their concerns will be addressed.
Town Engineer Joe Finora partially answered that question Monday afternoon at the Water Advisory Committee (WAC) meeting. Mr. Finora spoke with Jason Hime, head of the Bureau of Drinking Water at the Suffolk County Department of Health, about the possibility of a program to test chloride levels and other potential contaminants that could be present or emerging in their water.
He said a testing panel might be arranged for $100 per sample, with the possibility the Water Quality Improvement Advisory Board (WQI) would fund it, as it did with the Center water tests.
WAC members want to be sure they can get as much information as possible from any tests paid for with WQI or other public funds. Mr. Finora made it clear that the number of tests would likely be far more than the approximately 160 tests done in the Center. He said the likelihood would be the information the town would receive would provide useful data without having to reveal the-house addresses of those who submit to the testing.
When testing would take place is not up to the engineer, but the Town Board.
Mr. Hime will be at the April 15 WAC meeting, accessible in person at Town Hall, or via Zoom to discuss health issues resulting from overuse of fertilizers and contaminants.
The WAC’s fertilizer subcommittee also hopes to schedule him to speak at a public forum to be scheduled sometime in late April or early May.
That will follow a mailing to about 400 Center residents about potability of water in that area. Some had their water tested but others in the area opted not to participate in the town-sponsored testing.
On a separate issue, Deputy Supervisor Meg Larsen has provided WAC members with information on the existing policy on use of irrigation systems that were supposed to be banned a decade ago. What kept them operating was a provision for grandfathering systems and enabling people to keep them to benefit from the money they had invested. But every time the subject surfaced again, a decision to ban them was delayed.
Now Ms. Larsen said she’s working on changes that would eliminate grandfathering of existing systems and could allow those who have them to continue their use for only two years before they would have to take steps to install cisterns that could hold rain water for use on their lawns.
A fuller discussion will be had by the WAC at a future meeting.
WAC member Andrew Chapman reminded his colleagues to think about requiring septic systems to be inspected every five years to certify they’re in proper working condition. He had raised the subject last month and said areas of Connecticut with such legislation have done so to avoid having to bear the cost of a sewer system, while ensuring individual septic systems are working effectively.
It’s another subject the WAC is expected to address at a future meeting.
