The Port Washington Water District will be hosting its Pharmaceutical Take Back Day on Saturday, May 11 from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the district’s headquarters, located at 38 Sandy Hollow Road.
The district created this event to provide residents on the Port Washington peninsula with an opportunity to safely dispose of their expired or unused prescription drugs. Residents should gather and bring their unused prescription to this event as improperly disposing of can have a negative impact on the quality of the community’s water supply.
“Our pharmaceutical take back day not only provides an opportunity for Port Washington residents to safely dispose of unused medications, but it raises awareness throughout the community of the harmful effects these items have on our local water supply,” said David Brackett, chairman of the Port Washington Water District. “As a community we must take every measure to protect the environment for future generations and this is an easy way for all residents to play their part.”
Improperly disposing of pharmaceutical drugs and other controlled substances presents opportunities for foreign contaminants to seep into the water supply, raising the potential of groundwater contamination and expense on future treatment needs. Several decades ago, it was common practice to flush unused or expired medications down the drain. For homes with septic systems, this meant creating a concentration of flushed medication in the soil around the home. For homes connected to a sewer system, it meant that the treatment facility had to implement special treatment to remove, or attempt to remove, the potential toxins from the water before it could be discharged.
“The purpose of the Pharmaceutical Take Back Day is to keep the aquifer clean and pure as possible,” said Port Washington Water District commissioner Mindy Germain. “We must begin practicing these environmentally-conscious trends now to ensure the purity of our water supply and enforce these practices in our children and grandchildren.”
All residents of the Port Washington peninsula with expired or unused medications are encouraged to take advantage of the district’s Pharmaceutical Take Back Day. To help incentivize participation, the district has made the process extremely simple. Residents will simply pull into the district’s parking lot and toss their medications into a large collection bin. Once the event concludes, the discarded medications will be taken by the Port Washington Police and shipped to a certified disposal site.
“We ask you to take a look in their medicine cabinets, fill up a box of unused medicines and bring them down on May 11th,” said Port Washington Water District commissioner Peter Meyer. “If you’re like us and value the quality and health of the environment, please take a couple of minutes out of your day to give back to your community in a meaningful way. We look forward to seeing everyone there.”
Anyone who has questions about the event or how to dispose of prescription medications is encouraged to visit the Port Washington Water District website at: www.PWWD.org
Submitted by the Port Washington Water District
