Cuomo announces approval of advanced-treatment technologies for drinking water in Auburn, Owasco

AUBURN, N.Y. — “Advanced”-treatment technologies will address water-quality concerns in the city of Auburn and town of Owasco in Cayuga County.

The New York State Department of Health (DOH) and the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) have formally approved two carbon treatment demonstration projects that will be operational in advance of algal-bloom season, the office of Gov. Andrew Cuomo said in a news release issued Wednesday afternoon.

The Town of Owasco will be implementing an $800,000 granular-activated carbon (GAC) treatment system, while the City of Auburn will use a $600,000 powdered-activated carbon (PAC) treatment system.

Both of these technologies absorb the harmful algal toxin, removing it from the water. Cuomo on Wednesday announced the “approved solutions” at Emerson Park, located at the north end of Owasco Lake.

“With the approval of these state-of-the-art treatment technologies, New York is taking decisive action to ensure access to clean drinking water and protect public health in the Auburn and Owasco communities,” Cuomo said in the news release. “Across the state, we are investing in critical upgrades to outdated water infrastructure and addressing contamination wherever it occurs to protect water supplies for current and future generations.”

Cuomo earlier this year announced the commitment of more than $2 million to evaluate treatment “alternatives” and upgrade the drinking-water systems in Auburn and Owasco, Cuomo’s office said.

The recently-enacted state budget secures this funding, it added.

Background

Over time, Owasco Lake has had “increasingly dense” blooms of blue-green algae or cyanobacteria, also known as harmful algal blooms.

These blooms can produce nerve, liver, and skin toxins that can harm swimmers, pets, and those who drink the water. In addition, these blooms can trigger ecological changes and are “unsightly,” affecting water quality, recreation, aesthetics, and property values.

In Owasco Lake, blooms have concentrated along shorelines throughout the lake, resulting in periodic closures of the Emerson Park beach.

In recent years, low levels of the toxins have been detected in raw water at the City of Auburn and Town of Owasco drinking-water treatment facilities.

Although below U.S. Environmental Protection Agency health-advisory levels, 2016 was the first year with trace amounts of microcystin detected in the finished drinking water.

Similar blooms in other lakes are “usually the result of too much phosphorus” in the water, and reductions in nutrient levels “can help to reduce these problems.”

However, in Owasco Lake, phosphorus and chlorophyll levels in the open water are “low.”

The trigger for the blooms in Owasco Lake and some of the other Finger Lakes is “not well understood,” but the DEC is conducting additional studies and instituting further nutrient-control measures.

Contact Reinhardt at ereinhardt@cnybj.com

PHOTO CAPTION: Gov. Andrew Cuomo on Wednesday announced formal approval of advanced treatment technologies to address water quality concerns in the city of Auburn and town of Owasco. Cuomo made the announcement at Emerson Park Pavilion at the north end of Owasco Lake. Cuomo earlier this year had announced more than $2 million to evaluate​ treatment alternatives and upgrade their drinking water systems in Auburn and Owasco, his office said. (Gov. Andrew Cuomo Flickr page)