The lakes village of 1916.
Wikipedia says the T.B. Ackerson Company developed Brightwaters in the early 20th century, and residents, unhappy with taxes and paying privately for services, petitioned the Town of Islip in September 1916; the village incorporated on November 30, 1916. It has three districts: the Canal District south of Montauk Highway, the Lakes District with Cascades, Mirror, Lagoon and Nosrekca lakes, and the Wohseepee Park District to the north. It has its own ZIP code, 11718, and covers 1.0 square mile, about 2% water.
The Census Bureau's latest five-year survey counts about 1,100 homes, with a median year built of 1945. 25% went up in the 1950s, 45% before 1940, and 11% after 1980. 97% are single-family detached houses, and 96% are owner-occupied.
So a typical house here has drain and water lines around 81 years old unless they've been replaced. Slow drains in several fixtures, a gurgling floor drain or rusty water from one tap are signs to have the main line and supply piping checked. With so many pre-1940 homes, some still have galvanized or older supply piping in the walls; we plan repairs around what's actually there.
Oil to gas means new gas piping.
The ACS shows 68% of homes heat with utility gas and 23% with fuel oil. Switching means properly sized gas piping to the new equipment, and often to the water heater, range and dryer. We do the gas line work. We don't sell or deliver oil.
Mostly sewered.
Laying Suffolk County's sewer-district map over the Census boundary puts about 100% of the hamlet in the Southwest Sewer District (Sewer District 3). The rest is outside a district, where homes rely on cesspools or septic systems. Your tax bill shows a sewer district charge if you're in one. A backup that stops at your house is usually in your own line to the street; we clear it and repair or replace the line. If neighbors are backed up too, call Suffolk County DPW (Sewer District 3 / Southwest). If you're outside the district, the line runs to a cesspool or septic tank: we clear the line from the house, but a full or failing cesspool is a job for a cesspool or septic contractor, since we don't do cesspool work.
Flood risk.
Laying FEMA's current flood map over the Census boundary, about 10% of Brightwaters is in the high-risk (1% annual chance) flood zone (7.3% in zone AE, 2.7% in zone A; shares of the Census area, water included). On a sewered street, a backwater (sewer check) valve on your house sewer line can keep a street-sewer backup from coming in through basement floor drains. We install them. If your water heater or gas appliances ever sat in flood water, have them checked before relighting.
Water: Suffolk County Water Authority (SCWA).
EPA's service-area map puts essentially all residents on the Suffolk County Water Authority (SCWA); your bill is the final word. The main supplier's most recent 90th-percentile lead result was 1.3 ppb, under the 15 ppb action level; lead usually comes from a home's own pipes and fixtures, so results vary house to house. In EPA's UCMR 5 testing, the main supplier's highest single PFOA/PFOS result was 17 parts per trillion. EPA's 4 ppt limits apply as a running annual average starting in 2029, so one high sample is not a violation, but it's the kind of number a carbon filter is sized against. For a leak at the curb or in the street, call your water supplier (SCWA: (631) 698-9500). For anything on your side of the meter, call us.
Permits.
Brightwaters is an incorporated village, so plumbing permits go through the Village of Brightwaters' building department, not the town.
