Wastewater EngineeringWastewater Reuse Pilot Project

Riverhead Sewer District

The Riverhead Sewer District wants to ultimately reuse approximately 350,000 GPD of effluent from the newly constructed Riverhead Advanced Wastewater Treatment Facility (RAWTF) and the pre-existing Scavenger Waste Treatment Plant to irrigate the adjacent Suffolk County owned Indian Island Golf Course.

This project was undertaken to study the treatment processes necessary to develop a viable design that would also satisfy one of the major recommendations of the Peconic Estuary Comprehensive Conservation and Management Plan (PECCMP); to reduce the annual mass loading of nitrogen to the Peconic Estuary. In Suffolk County, this is the first proposed water reclamation project. As such, development of this project required considerations for the protection of the sole source drinking water aquifer; protection of the turf and plantings on the golf course; and, eliminating risks to the adjacent homeowners, the users and the various maintenance personnel.