City Of Glen Cove Approves Nearly $800K In Spending To Repair Water Systems, $50 Million Invested

GLEN COVE, NY — The City of Glen Cove Council voted unanimously to spend nearly $800,000 towards a water system that will be used to repair carbon systems, ultimately aiming to remove PFAS.

Council approved a $776,000 payment that will go towards the Philip Ross Industries Inc. bid for granular activated carbon system repairs at the Seaman Road station. This will bring Seaman Road into compliance with the Health Department, according to Mayor Pam Panzenbeck.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency states that granular activated carbon systems are shown to effectively remove PFAS from drinking water when it's used in a flow-through filter mode after particulates have already been removed.

New York State's limit for PFAS and drinking water is 10 parts per trillion, and public water systems must meet that maximum contaminant level until 2029, the Department of Health states. The EPA states that the standard for PFAS should not exceed 4 parts per trillion in drinking water.

In the Jan. 27 City Council Meeting, Mayor Panzenbeck spoke on the topic of PFAsS which are polyfluoroalkyl substances, also known as human-made 'forever chemicals,' that do not easily break down in the environment.

"PFAS is the new buzzword in water in the last couple of years, and I'm happy to say we've been ahead of it, thankfully," Mayor Panzenbeck said.

The Glen Cove Water District is the second-largest water district in all of Nassau County.

When Patch interviewed the Mayor back in November of 2025, Panzenbeck said she was proud of Glen Cove's commitment to clean and safe water for its residents.

"I have a wonderful water supervisor, and I'm going to say we've been ahead of all of those issues," she said. "We were involved in the PFAs issue, and we've been ahead of the game. So as they keep changing the criteria for what's an acceptable level of PFAs, we've tried to stay ahead of that, and up to now, we actually have, so it's anticipating what's coming next. Our water wells are all getting major upgrades. Every one of our water systems is getting an upgrade."

Across their six wells, City officials said the City of Glen Cove has advanced nearly $50 million in upgrades to its well facilities. They said they are projected to lower their PFAS levels from 10 ppt to 4 ppt by 2031. Federal and state grants have helped offset these project costs, officials said. These projects will help maintain compliance and protect water quality for approximately 10,000 customers and residents, Public Works Director Mike Yeosock said.

Some of their current and planned projects are as follows:

• Seaman Road Well: $6.3 million invested to restore service, with the newly added $776K planned repair to replace treatment carbon media.
• Nancy Court Well: The $2.6 million rehabilitation project is at about 80 percent complete. The design of an approximately $11 million PFAS treatment system is anticipated to begin engineering beginning later this year.
• Duck Pond Road Facility: A $17 million upgrade project has begun construction, and the City is expecting the renovations to take about two years.
• Kelly Street Well: A $11.5 million PFAS treatment project has been identified, officials said.