Hicksville Water District Secures $14M in Grant Funding

February 12, 2020

Money Will Offset Total Costs for Two 1,4-Dioxane Treatment Facilities

Hicksville, NY (January 22, 2020)—The Hicksville Water District has received a more than $14 million grant from New York State, as announced by Governor Cuomo. The grant funds will go toward the construction of two state-of-the-art treatment facilities, totaling a $23.4 million investment, which are being specifically designed to remove 1,4-dioxane from the community’s water.

“This is a significant level of funding that will greatly improve our ability to minimize the financial obligation of our residents to construct the necessary treatment for 1,4-dioxane,” said William Schuckmann, chairman of the Hicksville Water District’s Board of Commissioners. “We are pleased that the governor and our state representatives heard our concerns about the cost for treatment and took action to help ease the burden on our community.”

This wave of funding will cover 60 percent of the total capital costs associated with the installation of advance oxidation process (AOP) and granular activated carbon (GAC) treatment systems at the District’s Plant 1 and Plant 8 locations. This innovative treatment combination is required to eliminate the trace amounts of 1,4-dioxane being detected at most of the District’s supply wells. 

“While the District is taking action to implement well-head treatment for 1,4-dioxane at each impacted supply well, the permanent installation of treatment at these two impacted well sites makes the most sense from a strategic standpoint,” said Hicksville Water District Commissioner Karl Schweitzer “These two plants are the workhorses of the District’s supply system, and constructing treatment at these sites first puts in the best position to deliver 1,4-dioxane-free water during the times of peak demand.” 

The District has already taken swift action in passing a series of emergency resolutions to initiate the design and construction for the necessary 1,4-dioxane treatment systems. The more than $14 million in grant awards will reduce the overall capital costs associated with its construction. The regulations proposed by New York State to regulate 1,4-dioxane and other emerging compounds are calculated to cost the Hicksville Water District more than $60 million in capital improvements needed to construct the required treatment facilities at the District’s 10 impacted wells.

“We are appreciative of this significant level of funding, but we don’t want our residents to lose sight of the fact that much more funding is needed to offset the necessity of future water rate increases,” said Hicksville Water District Commissioner Nicholas Brigandi. “As we have been doing for the past couple of years, we will seek out all potential avenues for more funding and will continue our legal pursuits to hold the polluters accountable for the treatment-related expenses.”

This round of infrastructure funding was part of a recent announcement from Governor Cuomo that provided more than $416 million for water and wastewater projects across New York State. More than $120 million of this funding has been specifically allocated to help communities across Long Island fund treatment projects for emerging contaminants. In 2017, Governor Cuomo and the State Legislature passed the Clean Water Infrastructure Act that dedicated $2.5 billion in wastewater and drinking water projects and water quality protection across New York State.

HOW THE TREATMENT SYSTEMS WORK

AOP treatment blends raw groundwater with a low concentration of an oxidant—most commonly hydrogen peroxide—that then goes through a sophisticated ultraviolet light reactor to destroy the 1,4-dixoane molecules. Once groundwater goes through the AOP process, water is then piped into GAC vessels. GAC vessels—which are industrial-sized carbon filters—remove any remaining hydrogen peroxide and other VOCs form the water. After GAC treatment, water is chlorinated for disinfection, pH is adjusted then tested before being delivered to residents’ taps.

To learn more about 1,4-dioxane and the steps the District is taking to combat it, please visit hicksvillewater.org/dioxane. For more information on the Hicksville Water District, please visit www.hicksvillewater.org or add the District on Facebook at facebook.com/HicksvilleWaterDistrict.