Village bonds $4.6M for water projects

The village of Rockville Centre approved more than $4.6 million in bids for water infrastructure improvements at the March 7 board of trustees meeting.

Kevin Reilly, superintendent of the Water Department, also announced that as of last month, the water tower behind South Side High School is officially back in service, after final approval from the Nassau County Department of Health.

“Immediately following that approval, we put it into service and we flushed approximately half of our village, or our system, through hydrant flushing,” said Reilly. “We plan on flushing the entire village in the middle of April. And once that’s done, our system should be clear water. You still may experience some discolored water from time to time but a big chunk of the work is done… But the big job of the iron removal filter and tank No. 1 is complete, and in service, and working and feeding our system with clean, clear water.”

The tank had been closed since last spring for rehabilitation, sandblasting, painting and replacing the iron filtration plant. 

While the tank was out of service, residents received water primarily from the Maple Avenue water tank, with some from the well near Molloy College. The water from the wells that feed the Maple Avenue tank, however, can be rusty and discolored due to iron in the groundwater. For residents whose water comes from the tower by South Side High School, that created aesthetically unpleasing brown drinking water and water that stained laundry and bathroom fixtures.

One of the bids the village approved was $259,000 to A.C. Shultes for the design for an iron removal plant at Maple Avenue. The plans have not been finalized because it has to be approved by the Nassau County Department of Health. After that, the village can put out a bid for the construction of the plant.

Holtsville-based Eldor Contracting Corporation was awarded $974,000 for enclosures over the 11 village water supply wells for security reasons.

Also included was $3.4 million in water main replacements for phases I and II of the 2016 road replacement program, which will be done by Allen Industries of Amityville.