{"id":1165,"date":"2012-03-13T17:25:11","date_gmt":"2012-03-13T17:25:11","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/middleislandcivic.com\/?p=1165"},"modified":"2012-03-13T17:25:11","modified_gmt":"2012-03-13T17:25:11","slug":"protect-our-ground-water","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/s453969799.onlinehome.us\/mica\/?p=1165","title":{"rendered":"Protect Our Ground Water"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>March 2012<\/p>\n<p><strong> <\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>F<\/strong><strong>or <\/strong><strong>Y<\/strong><strong>our <\/strong><strong>I<\/strong><strong>nformation <\/strong>from<strong>\u2026<\/strong>Suffolk County Department of Health Services<\/p>\n<p><strong>CELEBRATE NATIONAL GROUND WATER AWARENESS WEEK &#8211; <\/strong><strong>MARCH 11-17, 2012<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong> <\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong> <\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong> <\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>DID YOU KNOW? <\/strong><strong>Americans Drink More Than One Billion Glasses of Tap Water Per Day!<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong> <\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>In  Suffolk County, our groundwater provides drinking water to  approximately 1.5 million residents and has been designated by the  United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) as a sole source  aquifer.<\/li>\n<li>Most  residents receive their water from a public water supplier, though  there are approximately 48,000 private wells in Suffolk County.<\/li>\n<li>Because  of our geology and sandy soils, our ground water can become  contaminated from activities such as sewage disposal, chemical or  gasoline spills, and use of fertilizers and pesticides.<\/li>\n<li>About  70 percent of our population (approximately 1 million people) is not  served by sewers, making our aquifer especially vulnerable to potential  contamination.<\/li>\n<li>While  the public water supply remains safe and of high quality, our  groundwater is a primary source of pollutants to our streams and bays,  especially nitrogen to sensitive waterways.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>WHAT CAN YOU DO?<\/strong> <strong> <\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>You Can Help Protect Human Health and the Environment by Raising Awareness about Potential<\/strong> <strong>Threats to Our Groundwater <\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong> <\/strong><strong> <\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>If you have a private drinking water well, have it tested once a year by the Suffolk County Department of Health Services (631) <strong>853-5810 <\/strong>or a private laboratory certified by the State Health Department.<\/li>\n<li>Follow directions and State and County regulations when you apply pesticides and fertilizers to your lawn and garden.\u00a0 The link is: <a href=\"http:\/\/healthylawns.suffolkcountyny.gov\/\" target=\"_blank\">http:\/\/healthylawns.suffolkcountyny.gov\/<\/a><\/li>\n<li>Take  advantage of local hazardous waste collection events and dispose of  unwanted medication at Suffolk County Police Precinct Drop Off  collection boxes.<\/li>\n<li>Support Your Local Estuary Program \u2013 To learn more visit the Peconic Estuary Program at <a href=\"http:\/\/www.peconicestuary.org\/\" target=\"_blank\">www.peconicestuary.org<\/a>, the Long Island Sound Study at (<a href=\"http:\/\/www.longislandsoundstudy.net\/\" target=\"_blank\">www.longislandsoundstudy.net<\/a>), and\/or South Shore Estuary Reserve at (<a href=\"http:\/\/www.estuary.cog.ny.us\/\" target=\"_blank\">http:\/\/www.estuary.cog.ny.us<\/a>)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>EPA HAS A LIST OF ADDITIONAL WAYS YOU CAN GET INVOLVED<\/strong>.\u00a0 For more information on each of these, click on the item or visit EPA\u2019s web page, <a href=\"http:\/\/water.epa.gov\/action\/\" target=\"_blank\">http:\/\/water.epa.gov\/action\/<\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong><a href=\"http:\/\/water.epa.gov\/action\/adopt\/index.cfm\" target=\"_blank\">Adopt Your Watershed<\/a> <a href=\"http:\/\/water.epa.gov\/learn\/resources\/adulttrn\/npsout\/index.cfm\" target=\"_blank\">Nonpoint Source Toolbox<\/a> <\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong><a href=\"http:\/\/water.epa.gov\/action\/weatherchannel\/index.cfm\" target=\"_blank\">After the Storm \u2013 Weather<\/a> <\/strong><a href=\"http:\/\/water.epa.gov\/action\/protect\/\" target=\"_blank\"><strong>Protecting Drinking Water<\/strong><\/a><strong> <\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong><a href=\"http:\/\/water.epa.gov\/action\/emerprep\/index.cfm\" target=\"_blank\">Emergency Preparedness<\/a><\/strong><strong> <\/strong><a href=\"http:\/\/water.epa.gov\/infrastructure\/sustain\/waterefficiency.cfm\" target=\"_blank\"><strong>Water Efficiency<\/strong><\/a><strong> <\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>Additional Resources<\/strong><strong>:<\/strong> Suffolk County Draft Comprehensive Water Resources Management Plan<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.suffolkcountyny.gov\/Departments\/HealthServices\/EnvironmentalQuality\/WaterResources\/ComprehensiveWaterResourcesManagementPlan.aspx\" target=\"_blank\">http:\/\/www.suffolkcountyny.gov\/Departments\/HealthServices\/EnvironmentalQuality\/WaterResources\/ComprehensiveWaterResourcesManagementPlan.aspx<\/a>. <em> <\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>Suffolk<\/em><em> County<\/em><em> Cancer Awareness Task Force: <a href=\"http:\/\/www.suffolkcountyny.gov\/cancerawareness\" target=\"_blank\">www.suffolkcountyny.gov\/cancerawareness<\/a>. <\/em><\/p>\n<table cellspacing=\"0\" cellpadding=\"0\" width=\"100%\">\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td><strong>REMEMBER THE NEXT TIME YOU REACH FOR THAT GLASS OF WATER, <\/strong><strong>SAFE DRINKING WATER RELIES ON ALL OF US. DO YOUR PART TO GET TO KNOW IT AND PROTECT IT.<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>March 2012 For Your Information from\u2026Suffolk County Department of Health Services CELEBRATE NATIONAL GROUND WATER AWARENESS WEEK &#8211; MARCH 11-17, 2012 DID YOU KNOW? Americans Drink More Than One Billion Glasses of Tap Water Per Day! In Suffolk County, our groundwater provides drinking water to approximately 1.5 million residents and has been designated by the [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[3],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/s453969799.onlinehome.us\/mica\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1165"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/s453969799.onlinehome.us\/mica\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/s453969799.onlinehome.us\/mica\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/s453969799.onlinehome.us\/mica\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/s453969799.onlinehome.us\/mica\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1165"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/s453969799.onlinehome.us\/mica\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1165\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/s453969799.onlinehome.us\/mica\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1165"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/s453969799.onlinehome.us\/mica\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1165"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/s453969799.onlinehome.us\/mica\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1165"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}