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Stories in New York

Long Island Water Quality

Aerial view of housing on Long Island, New York.
Rising to the Challenge Climate change poses new threats to water quality. Toxic algae blooms are supercharged by climate, and infrastructure is ill-equipped for new climate realities. © iStock

Nitrogen pollution threatens Long Island’s waters, and we have to fix it now.

Water Quality (2:58) From Freeport to Montauk, 11 personal stories illuminate the intrinsic bonds that Long Islanders have with our water.

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A family holding hands running along the beach.

From Crisis to Comeback: Long Island’s $6 Billion Clean Water Victory

The universal need for clean water transcends all politics.

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Water Questions

Illustration showing a water tower drawing water from various groundwater aquifers.

Where Does Our Water Come From?

The water that flows from every single spigot in Nassau and Suffolk County comes from groundwater aquifers and nowhere else.

Illustration showing wastewater from a house flowing underground into a septic system and reactive nitrogen entering groundwater aquifers.

Where Does It Go When I Flush?

Even when working properly, traditional Long Island cesspools and septic systems are not designed to keep reactive nitrogen from entering groundwater aquifers.

Illustration showing green grass, houses, and a person alongside a body of water into which nitrogen pollution is flowing.

What is Nitrogen Pollution?

Nitrogen makes plants grow. But too much of a good thing is a bad thing. When too much nitrogen flows to our bays, fast-growing plants out-compete and kill slower-growing beneficial plants.