Suffolk County Water Authority Wins $4.55 Million in New York Grants for Three Activated Carbon PFAS Treatment Projects

The Suffolk County Water Authority (SCWA) on Long Island has been awarded $4.55 million in New York State grants for three granular activated carbon (GAC) treatment projects aimed at PFAS, the “forever chemicals,” in drinking water. SCWA announced the awards from the New York State Environmental Facilities Corporation on October 20, 2026.

Where the money goes

The grants come from New York’s 2026 Water Infrastructure Improvement Act (WIIA) program, SCWA said, and cover three well fields:

• Hallock Avenue Well Field (Wells No. 2 and 3): $2,100,000
• Liberty Street Well Field (Well No. 3): $1,225,000
• Patchogue-Yaphank Road Well Field (Well No. 1): $1,225,000

SCWA describes GAC as a treatment step in which water passes through carbon media before it reaches customers, and says it continues to deploy GAC systems throughout its service territory as part of a system-wide treatment strategy.

Ahead of the federal deadline

SCWA says it already meets the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s national 4-parts-per-trillion drinking water standard for PFAS, ahead of the 2031 regulatory deadline. It says the new projects move it closer to its goal of treating all water delivered to customers to non-detectable levels.

Since 2019, SCWA says it has secured more than $116 million in state and federal grants for water quality treatment, infrastructure upgrades and system expansion. The authority serves about 1.2 million Suffolk County residents.

“Grant funding is critical to protecting water quality without putting the full cost on our customers,” said SCWA Chairman Charlie Lefkowitz. SCWA Chief Executive Officer Jeff Szabo added, “We made a commitment years ago to get ahead of PFAS, not wait for mandates.”

Why WaterVO™ follows this

Projects like these are how utilities handle PFAS in water pumped from wells: the treatment happens after the water is drawn from the ground. Atmospheric water generation, which we call vapor optimizing (VO), starts from a different source: it filters incoming air and condenses drinking water from humidity instead. We believe VO is likely the best option for drinking water. It uses energy, but we think cleaner drinking water is worth it.

WaterVO prices go up December 1. Order before Dec. 1: the Spout Monolith is $1,495, the Countertop Vapor Optimizer is $1,499 and the Floor Model Vapor Optimizer is $1,999.

Sources

• Suffolk County Water Authority, “Suffolk County Water Authority Awarded $4.55 Million for PFAS Treatment Projects,” October 20, 2026: scwa.com

Photo: activated carbon, by Ravedave via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 2.5); cropped, headline added in the featured image. Illustrative; not SCWA’s treatment media.

Keep learning

More from WaterVO News: ‘Not detected’ isn’t zero: TCU-led PFAS study · Protect Clean Water Act: $10 billion for PFAS projects

Go deeper with the water experts at Hydrology University: the PFAS guide.

Page link: https://watervo.com/blogs/news/suffolk-county-water-authority-4-55-million-pfas-gac-treatment-grants