Nitrogen pollution from outdated cesspools and septic systems has been identified as the largest single cause of degraded water quality contributing to beach closures, restrictions on shell fishing, toxic algae blooms and massive fish kills. Conventional cesspools and septic systems do nothing to treat our wastewater but rather serve as a direct conduit for untreated waste to funnel directly into our groundwater. 

Hundreds of thousands of parcels in Nassau and Suffolk County are currently served by polluting cesspools and septic systems. Most of these properties will never have the opportunity to connect to a muncipal sewer system, and reversing the degradation of our water quality will therefore depend on upgrading these conventional systems to clean water septic systems known as Innovative and Alternative Onsite Wastewater Treatment Systems (“I/A OWTS”). 

In recognition of the importance of this issue, Nassau and Suffolk County now requires the installation of I/A OWTS systems for all new construction and major renovations. And to encourage homeowners with existing systems to upgrade their polluting system to a clean water I/A OWTS system, the County, State and several towns offer significant (tax free) financial incentives.