Water Authority Hit Pumping Record

The Suffolk County Water Authority hit a record amount of water pumped on Friday morning, thanks to last week's heatwave.

The rate hit 533,000 gallons per minute at 5:42 a.m. Friday morning, the highest recorded rate in the authority’s history, exceeding the rate of 523,400 gallons per minute recorded on July 18, 2012.

Per-minute water pumpage reached 533,000 gallons per minute at 5:42 this morning, the highest recorded rate in the authority’s history, exceeding the rate of 523,400 gallons per minute recorded on July 18, 2012.

The agency said that though it was able to handle the demand, homeowners should try to conserve during peak hours to make sure water capacity for other uses, such as fire protection, doesn't drop. Peak usage hours are between 4 a.m. and 8 a.m., misty because of the widespread use of timed lawn water systems during these hours.


“The recent heat wave has boosted our pumping figures significantly this month after a fairly quiet June, due to heavy rains,” said SCWA Chief Executive Officer Jeff Szabo. “We have taken all necessary measures to make sure that our infrastructure is capable of continuing to deliver a sufficient drinking water supply for our customers, even during the current heat wave.”

The SCWA said that Friday  morning, from 5 a.m. to 6 a.m. alone, it pumped more than 32 million gallons of water, almost exclusively due to irrigation.

The Suffolk County Water Authority serves approximately 1.2 million Suffolk County residents.