Westchester Joint Water Works Breaks Ground on $172M Rye Lake Drinking Water Filtration Plant

Elected officials, labor leaders, the project engineer, the construction contractor, and other stakeholders joined Westchester Joint Water Works (WJWW) Sept. 26 at a groundbreaking ceremony for its 30-million gallons per day water filtration plant to be built in the Town/Village of Harrison. WJWW is a nonprofit public benefit corporation responsible for maintaining a drinking water system to serve up to 100,000 Westchester County residents.

WJWW’s Board of Trustees on Aug. 12 approved a $172,761,500 contract with Yonkers Contracting Company Inc. to build the 80,000-square-foot Rye Lake filtration plant. The plant will ensure that residents’ tap water will continue to meet all drinking water standards, including for levels of haloacetic acids (HAA5), and is a proactive step in addressing changing source water quality posed by climate change.

“This is a great day for WJWW, for our community, and for all who depend on safe, clean drinking water,” said Jaine Elkind Eney, Chair of the WJWW Board of Trustees and Supervisor of the Town of Mamaroneck. “This moment has been more than 20 years in the making and from the very beginning, our number-one priority has continued to be the health and safety of our residents. Today’s groundbreaking is another step in ensuring that safety for our residents now, and for generations to come.”

Supervisor Eney thanked the Westchester County Board of Legislators, which last year approved a land exchange with WJWW for a 13.4-acre parcel at the Westchester County Airport in the Town/Village of Harrison upon which the $172.8 million plant will be built.

Westchester County Executive Ken Jenkins said: “A lot had to happen to get us to this day. For nearly two decades, the people of Westchester Joint Water Works navigated different administrations, countless conversations, and community concerns — always with one goal in mind: protecting the water and the health of more than 100,000 residents. This project reminds us that while it doesn’t come easy, when labor, legislators, professionals, and community voices all come together, we can achieve great things. Congratulations to the Westchester Joint Water Works and all the partners who made this possible. And we will continue working side by side with our colleagues in government, with labor, and with all of you to safeguard the health and future of Westchester County.”

Joining Supervisor Eney were Village of Mamaroneck Mayor Sharon Torres, Vice Chair of WJWW Board of Trustees, and Paul Kutzy, P.E., Manager/CEO, WJWW. In addition to County Executive Jenkins, also in attendance were Westchester Board of Legislators members Nancy Barr (District 6), Margaret Cunzio (District 3), Catherine Parker (District 7), Erika Pierce (District 2), and Shanae Williams (District 16); Hugh Greechan, Jr., P.E., Westchester County Commissioner of Public Works & Transportation; Paul V. Rush P.E., Deputy Commissioner, NYC-DEP, Bureau of Water Supply; Jeff Loughlin, President, Building and Construction Trades Council of Westchester and Putnam Counties; Eileen Feldman, P.E., Vice President, Hazen and Sawyer; and Carl Petrillo, President, Yonkers Contracting Co.

About the Water Filtration Plant

Yonkers Contracting was the lowest of seven bidders for the project—with bids as high as $239,985,000—and the award amount is approximately $1 million less than what the project engineer, Hazen & Sawyer, had estimated for construction. Offsetting the total project cost, currently estimated at $205 million, WJWW received a NYS Intermunicipal Grant award for $30 million. In addition, WJWW is in the process of securing subsidized interest loans through the NYS Drinking Water State Revolving Fund that could potentially provide $20 million in debt service cost savings. WJWW also entered into a Project Labor Agreement (PLA) with the Building and Construction Trades Council of Westchester and Putnam Counties, resulting in an estimated construction cost savings of $7 million. WJWW will continue to seek out grant opportunities for the project.

The water filtration plant is expected to be operational by early 2029. WJWW is under state and federal orders to build the plant to filter its Rye Lake water source. This project will serve as the means to comply with U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s and NYS Department of Health water treatment rules, and address potential public health risks. On June 24, 2024, WJWW and its member municipalities—Town of Mamaroneck, Village of Mamaroneck and Town/Village of Harrison—entered into a Consent Decree with U.S. Department of Justice on behalf of U.S. EPA and NYS Attorney General on behalf of NYS Department of Health, which consolidated and settled all federal and state claims at less than 1 percent of the maximum $200 million in civil penalties that could be imposed under federal and state law.

For more information, please visit www.wjwwfiltration.org.

ABOUT WJWW

Westchester Joint Water Works (WJWW) is a nonprofit public benefit corporation formed in 1927 by its three member municipalities: the Village of Mamaroneck, the Town of Mamaroneck, and the Town/Village of Harrison pursuant to the provisions of Chapter 654, Laws of 1927, State of New York to acquire, constrkuct and provide a joint water works. WJWW supplies water to its member municipalities and to portions of the cities of Rye and New Rochelle, serving 62,475 consumers through 14,816 service connections. WJWW also supplies water on a wholesale basis to the Village of Larchmont, Town of North Castle, and Veolia (formerly Suez Water Westchester), which sells water to the City of Rye, Village of Rye Brook and Village of Port Chester. In all, WJWW provides drinking water to up to 100,000 residents and other consumers in Westchester County.