HAWTHORNE – A new state-of-the-art
water quality laboratory was opened by the New York City Department of
Environmental Protection on Monday.
The lab, in Hawthorne, will replace one built in 1955 and operating alongside
the Kensico Reservoir in Valhalla.
The 20,000 square foot facility in Hawthorne employs 45 scientists who
collect and test water samples from key locations throughout the watershed.
The lab is one of four the DEP uses to test water quality, the others
being in Grahamsville, Kingston and Queens.
The new Hawthorne lab is also part of a wider plan by DEP to upgrade facilities
in the southern portion of its water supply system.
The water samples that are tested at the new facility come from “critically
important parts of our water supply system, including reservoirs and treatment
facilities that convey water directly into the city’s distribution
system,” said DEP Commissioner Emily Lloyd.
