Water is essential to life.
Clean water is essential to health.
Westchester Joint Water works' highest priority is providing safe drinking water to our consumers.
Construction of the Water Filtration Plant will reduce turbidity found in Rye Lake to aid in the water disinfection process, will remove waterborne pathogens, and will remove naturally occurring organic matter that contribute to the formation of disinfection byproducts, such as haloacetic acids (HAA5); and is necessary to comply with U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) and New York State Department of Health (NYSDOH) safe drinking water regulations.
Providing safe drinking water is a complex process.
Given the many threats – natural and man-made – to public water sources, it is paramount to implement appropriate technologies and safeguards to help deliver safe drinking water. Over time, climate change, population growth and increased human activity have adversely affected surface water sources for drinking water by increasing levels of organic matter. The naturally occurring organic matter reacts with chlorine used for disinfection, leading to the formation of potentially harmful levels of disinfection by-products, including haloacetic acids, or HAA5 as they are commonly called. Filtration is needed to remove organic matter before chlorination to reduce the formation of these disinfection by-products.
At Westchester Joint Water Works (WJWW), your health is our No. 1 priority, and we are committed to providing safe drinking water to our consumers.
Traces of HAA5 have been detected in WJWW’s water supply system. Although this does not constitute an immediate health hazard, we are taking proactive steps to remediate their presence and comply with state and federal orders. WJWW has a plan in place to build a Water Filtration Plant for our Rye Lake water source. The filtration plant will remove naturally occurring organic matter, restore disinfection efficiency and thereby keep disinfection by-products, such as HAA5, under control.
