By Tom Jordan
Iron-filtration project begins
The Village of Rockville Centre has begun construction of a filtration unit that will reduce the unusually high levels of iron and prevent discoloration in water used by approximately one-third of all residents.
For as long as memory serves those living in the vicinity of Well Field No. 1 -- adjacent to Fireman's Field at South Side High School, and serving the eastern portion of the Village -- the water running through their faucets has been cloudy and rusty. It has tinted their clothing and stained their sinks, and it began to raise concerns when the Nassau County Department of Health determined during summer that it contained 1.3 milligrams of iron per unit, far higher than the allowable level of 0.3 milligrams per unit.
Rockville Centre maintains its own water facility, unlike the majority of Long Island municipalities. Repeated flushing of the pipes has not helped matters because, village spokesperson Jeff Kluewer said, the color of the water "has nothing to do with the pipes or the system. The unsightly discoloration resulted when the dissolved iron oxidized."
"You can't drink it. I don't even cook with it," said Patty Thompson of Tarence Avenue. "We do have to wash our clothes in it, and even bathe in it. It's disgusting, because it comes out of the faucet orange."
"I feel like I can go down to the Mill River and drink that stuff," added Mary Anderson, another resident.
If the only concerns pertain to aesthetics, as village officials have expressed all along, those problems should be solved in July next year, when the 30-foot by 70-foot treatment plant being built by Phillip Ross Industries, Inc. is expected to be completed. The $2.3 million facility will house three filter vessels and process nearly 3.5 million gallons of water per day. In test trials, the system reduced iron-concentration levels to 0.05 milligrams, well below the 0.3 level at which dissolved iron can cause discoloration.
Some residents, however, are concerned about more than taste and color, and fear that years from now, despite the assertions of a spokesperson from the Rockville Centre Water Department that the water is "chemically and bacterially safe to drink," people will learn of harmful effects from iron in the water.
"The standard of 0.3 was set for taste and staining and not for health reasons," said Cynthia Brown, speaking for the Department of Health. "The fact that the water tested at a higher level does not indicate that it is unhealthy."
Ms. Brown said that as far as she knows, no level of iron in the water system would pose a health risk. "Remember, multivitamins have 18 milligrams of iron," she said.
Still, "I'm not pleased that the issue was dismissed for so long," said Ms. Anderson. "What we kept hearing is that our water was 'likely not' harmful. I'm worried about what we may discover a couple of years down the road."
Said Mr. Kluewer, speaking for the Village, "The Village would not distribute unhealthy water to its residents."
