Require drainage rings for all new swimming pools? Not in Riverhead

Riverhead Town Board members balked at  the recommendation of the town’s conservation advisory committee and building department staff that would require dry wells for all new swimming pools in town.

The proposal would require the construction of dry wells sufficient to hold 20 percent of the volume of the pool’s water for all new pools having a depth of 24 inches or more.

The measure is aimed at preventing pool owners from discharging water onto other people’s properties, into wetlands or onto town roads, Riverhead Town building and planning administrator Jeff Murphree told incredulous town board members at Thursday’s work session.

When pool owners backwash their pool filters, a significant volume of water is discharged from the pool, he said. The dry wells would hold the water and allow it to soak into the ground on the pool owner’s property, he explained.

“Twenty percent of the pool’s volume?” Supervisor Sean Walter asked, laughing. “Are you kidding?” he asked. “From a logical standpoint, a swimming pool that holds 30,000 gallons of water would require six cesspool rings,” he said. The rings each have a capacity of 1,000 gallons, Walter said. A 20 by 36 standard rectangular in-ground pool holds about 30,000 gallons of water, according to a water volume calculator on the swimmingpool.com website. http://www.swimmingpool.com/maintenance/testing-your-water/pool-volume-calculator

The expense of the dry wells would make having a pool unaffordable “for the average guy,” Councilman George Gabrielsen said.

“What do the pool companies say about this?” Gabrielsen asked.

“The pool companies don’t want it at all,” Murphree replied, “because the dry wells could cost more than the pool and they’ll lose the client.”

Councilwoman Jodi Giglio said the proposed drainage requirement is even more onerous than what’s already required by the DEC, which, she pointed out, already regulates pool discharges if the property is within 150 feet of wetlands.

“The DEC looks at the site and bases their determination on its topography. If the wetlands are downhill from the pool, they require a dry well. They decide on a case-by-case basis,” Giglio said.

Giglio and Gabrielsen also pointed out that the Riverhead Town Code already prohibits discharging water onto town roads or onto someone else’s property.

Councilman John Dunleavy said he didn’t think pool water being discharged into wetlands or onto another’s property is a problem. He said he has not been hearing complaints about this.

A resolution setting the proposed code change for a public hearing was pulled from the agenda of the Oct. 22 regular meeting by board members who said they didn’t know anything about it. Giglio, a member of the code committee, asked why the measure hadn’t been brought to that committee for review before it came before the town board. The proposal was set for discussion at Thursday’s work session instead.

Town Board members agreed a dry well requirement may be necessary if the property owner is adjacent to wetlands, but said it should be limited to a four-foot by four-foot dry well.