The Seatuck Environmental Association announced today the release of a “Long Island Water Reuse Roadmap,” a guide developed to advance water reuse (or recycling) projects on Long Island. The Roadmap was funded through a generous commitment by the Manhasset-based Greentree Foundation and was prepared by Cameron Engineering, a Woodbury-based consulting, engineering, and planning firm. 

“Water reuse is a proven and effective strategy used to combat water quality and quantity problems throughout the nation and the world, and we think it can provide similar benefits here on Long Island,” noted Enrico Nardone, Seatuck’s Executive Director. “Long Island faces a variety of problems relating to our drinking water supply and the condition of our coastal waters, like other places do, and implementing water recycling projects should be an important arrow in our water protection and management quiver,” he added. “More than 2.6 billion gallons of wastewater are reused every day in the United States and we hope this amount climbs as Long Island moves to implement recycling projects” Nardone concluded. 

The roadmap identifies and prioritizes water reuse opportunities, most notably, but not exclusively, between sewage treatment plants and golf courses located in both counties. The prioritized projects weigh certain criteria, such as the projected amount of nitrogen reduced from entering a water body, as well as water saved and costs, and lists those that are most effective.   

“In keeping with the Greentree Foundation’s long-standing commitment to sustainable land and wildlife management for Long Island, we are pleased to be one of the main financial contributors to this important initiative,” said Nicholas Gabriel, President of the Greentree Foundation. “We hope it will go a long to help preserve the biological diversity and overall ecological health of this region.”

As the name suggests, water reuse involves using highly treated wastewater for another worthwhile purpose. “Wastewater emanating from sewage treatment plants has, for too long, been viewed as something negative, to be disposed of, rather than the asset it actually is”,

said John Cameron, Founder and Managing Partner at Cameron Engineering.  “We were pleased to play a major role in developing the roadmap and recognize it as a complementary strategy to the many others outlined in the Long Island Nitrogen Action Plan,” he added. 

“As the successful water recycling project involving the Riverhead Sewage Treatment Plant (STP) and the Indian Island County Golf Course has illustrated, where highly treated wastewater is piped next door during the growing season to irrigate the golf course, water reuse can reduce the nitrogen loading into sensitive coastal waters while keeping water in the underlying aquifers,” stated John Turner, a Senior Conservation Policy Advocate with Seatuck, adding “We hope this pioneering project is the first of many projects between sewage treatment plants and golf courses.” 

Read the report here.