Treatment of wastewater improves the quality of water as it recharges the aquifer. This can be done by:

• Connecting to a sewer district that treats to a tertiary level and recharges to ground, not surface waters.

• Creating smaller community treatment systems

• Upgrading onsite wastewater systems to an Innovative/Alternative Onsite Wastewater Treatment System I/A OWTS. These are now required by Suffolk County for new construction and major renovations.

• Installing nonproprietary, natural wastewater treatment systems

• Separating urine to both control nutrient loading and provide reuse of nutrients (in study phase)

What goes on your lawn can seep into the aquifer. Reduce or, better yet, eliminate the use of fertilizer, herbicides, pesticides and fungicides.

To preserve the health of our ground water and the surrounding water bodies, we need to be mindful of the fact that what we put down our drains or onto our lawns ends up first in our drinking water and eventually in the Bay or Long Island Sound. Our wastewater contains all of the antibiotics, vitamins, steroids and everything else that we take on a regular basis. These all have an adverse impact on our aquatic plants and animals.