Water Authority of Great Neck North officials this week called upon residents to disregard a letter mailed by an unidentified company, which they said contained “misleading” information about backflow-system testing for local homes.
The letter, which stated “Your Backflow Test is Due Now,” contained language that may have led residents to believe that failure to send money to the company would result in the loss of water service, Water Authority of Great Neck North Superintendent Gregory Graziano said.
“There is nothing that we can do about this letter,” he said. “Is it fraudulent? It is nothing that the authority has authorized or is in agreement with.”
Graziano said the letter was sent to residents of the Water Authority of Great Neck North and the Manhasset-Lakeville Water District. He said the letter prompted numerous calls from concerned residents.
“It’s not been authorized by the authority to be released,” Graziano said of the letter. “The authority is not behind it. The authority sends its own notices out to inform residents of when their back flow testing is due.”
Graziano declined to release the name of the organization that sent the letter because he said “we don’t want to give them more advertising.”
“They didn’t send it out saying they were the authority,” Graziano said of the unidentified company’s letter. “They put their name on it, but they made it look very official.”
When the letter was mailed, it was sent to residents who do not have backflow systems or who have already had their’s checked for the year, which created considerable confusion among the water authority’s customers, Graziano said.
“We did not authorize this,” he said. “We are not in agreement with this mailing.”
Residents with questions regarding the testing of their backflow system can call the Water Authority of Great Neck North office at 516-487-7975.
Each customer of the Water Authority of Great Neck North is informed about the status of their backflow system testing through a notice on their bills, Graziano said.
Backflow system testing can be performed by any licensed company, Graziano said.
A list of licensed backflow testing companies is available through the Water Authority of Great Neck North and Nassau County.
The Water Authority of Great Neck North serves residents in the villages of Great Neck, Great Neck Estates, Kensington, Kings Point and Saddle Rock, along with portions of Great Neck Plaza, Thomaston and the local unincorporated areas of the Town of North Hempstead.
