Press Releases

Contact: Public Relations Department
Suffolk County Water Authority
PO Box 37
Oakdale NY 11769
(631) 563-0296

June 30, 1999
SCWA Announces Another Perfect Score

The Suffolk County Water Authority Lab in Hauppauge has now hit the bull's-eye twice in a row on the state health department's Proficiency Test for Potable Water Chemistry, Bacteriology and Volatile Organic Chemicals, SCWA Lab Director Karen Randazzo has announced.

"The test is administered by the New York State Department of Health twice each year," Randazzo said. "They grade us on our ability to accurately record the presence of potentially harmful substances such as benzene in samples they provide. In December, we got perfect scores on the Chemistry and Volatile Organic divisions of the test. I'm thrilled to be able to announce that we did even better this time, receiving the highest possible score on all three divisions."

The SCWA Lab is the largest groundwater testing facility in the nation and the largest potable water testing laboratory in New York State. Randazzo pointed out that such facilities must pass the proficiency test to maintain state certification.

"A perfect score means that every single test was done satisfactorily," she noted. "We use the same care in testing samples from every SCWA wellsite on a regular basis for 265 contaminants, going beyond the state's requirements, which are already the most stringent in the nation."

The Authority supplies more than 340,000 residential and business customers through an interconnected system with 426 wells now active, according to SCWA Chairman/CEO Michael A. LoGrande. "Since 1951, we have always complied with all health and safety requirements," he said. "These perfect scores demonstrate we can have the utmost confidence in our ability to continue to do so through our state-of-the art laboratory."

The Suffolk County Water Authority is a public benefit corporation operating by virtue of the Public Authorities Law of the State of New York. Serving about 80% of Suffolk's residents, it operates without taxing power on a non-profit basis.