The arrival of the new year also meant a changing of the guard at Manhasset-Lakeville Water District as Paul J. Schrader succeeded Michael Steban as the Water District's superintendent. Steban, who held the job for the past 17 years, retired effective Dec. 31, 1998.

Schrader, a licensed professional engineer, served for the past five years as assistant superintendent of the Water Authority of Great Neck North and began his career in the industry at the New Rochelle Water Company in the early 1990's.

"Superintendent Schrader is very familiar with the issues facing water suppliers in northern Nassau County and brings to our top administrative job a solid background in the technical and operational aspects of distribution systems," said Commissioner Brian Jennings of Manhasset.

During his tenure at the Water Authority of Great Neck North, Schrader supervised a field staff of 17 and assisted in the completion of major projects, such as the installation of two miles of transmission mains and a new ground tank and booster station. Schrader, who will celebrate his 33rd birthday next month, also oversaw independent contractors retained by the Authority as they drilled two new replacement wells and constructed an air-stripping facility at Watermill Lane in Great Neck.

Air strippers and granulated activated carbon (GAC) adsorption facilities remove almost all potential contaminants, known as volatile organic chemicals (VOC's), from groundwater.

Long Island's water suppliers are building air strippers, GAC systems, or both, to comply with the latest state and federal mandates, which call for a ten-fold reduction in the allowable amounts of VOC's in drinking water. The District's $11 million bond issuance in 1995 was aimed at financing the infrastructure improvements needed to meet these new environmental standards, according to Commissioner Jennings.

"Manhasset-Lakeville is in the midst of building a major water purification facility at its Campbell Station in North Hills and I look forward to working with the commissioners in seeing that project to its completion," Schrader said during a recent interview. The new superintendent also indicated that infrastructure improvements, such as the replacement of aging water mains, would also be high on his agenda in 1999.

"I look forward to the challenges of my new job and--together with the board of commissioners--will strive to provide our customers with the very best product," Schrader said.

Although the two districts border one another, Manhasset-Lakeville serves a larger population than does the Water Authority of Great Neck North. For example, the Water Authority has eight operating wells and serves the more than 31,000 who live and work in Great Neck and its surrounding villages. Manhasset-Lakeville has 16 operating wells and a service area which includes about 50,000 in Manhasset, southern Great Neck and northern New Hyde Park.Superintendent Schrader, who earned a B. S. in civil engineering from Polytechnic Institute, is a member of the Long Island Water Conference. The New Hyde Park native and his wife, Margaret, reside in Syosset with their two-year-old son, Paul.

Like his predecessors, the new superintendent will maintain an office at 170 East Shore Road, Manhasset, and be a regular attendee at all public meetings of the board of commissioners.

In addition to Commissioner Jennings, the board includes Commissioner James Sharkey of Thomaston and Commissioner Bonnie Gould of Great Neck.