BY MIKE PETTINELLA
For Video News Service
The City of Batavia is taking a “forward thinking approach” by exploring different ways to increase its water supply.
(Photo by Mike Pettinella)
That is the belief of Derek Davy, chief executive officer of Econse Water Technologies, who has submitted a proposal to city officials to address what he calls “urgent challenges” facing the municipality:
— Water scarcity due to increasing demand and regional droughts.
— Regulatory pressure to reduce phosphorus, total suspended solids and biological oxygen demand from the city’s wastewater treatment plant before discharge into the Tonawanda Creek.
A resolution authorizing an agreement with Econse for the pilot project to support advanced water treatment is on the agenda of tonight’s (Nov. 10) City Council Business Meeting at City Hall Council Chambers.
Davy, who oversees offices in Lockport and in St. Catharines, Ontario, spoke to Video News Service by telephone this afternoon about his pilot plan.
He said the purpose of the project is “to show that there are multiple things that can be achieved to solve some of the water crises for Batavia.”
“The water quality in the creek that it’s discharging to due to climate change is deteriorating and that has an impact on the water quality coming to the city,” he said, when asked to explain the proposal in layman’s terms. “And, as a result, the city is also relying on their aquifer more frequently due to the drought, especially at certain peak times of the year. So, with the economic plans to grow the economy of Batavia, along with that goes water and the need for more water.”
Davy said it’s a matter of city officials seeking to meet discharge targets to preserve the environmental quality of the creek.
“This project, first and foremost, will address that, and beyond that, it will evaluate whether the quality will be suitable, so that will provide more potential water to the treatment plant to be able to utilize.”
According to his proposal dated Sept. 16 and discussed at City Council’s last meeting, Econse will use its compact MBR (membrane bioreactors) technology to treat the lagoon outfall to produce high-quality effluent suitable for direct discharge to aquifer recharge areas.
Phase 1, constructing a climate-controlled structure next to the wastewater treatment plant’s main building, would take three to six months to complete, increasing capacity by up to 15,000 gallons per day at a cost estimate of $75,000 to $125,000.
Phase 2, partnering with the city engineers and the Department of Environmental Conservation, would increase capacity up to 250,000 gallons per day (or more) at an estimated cost of $1.5 million to $2.5 million.
Davy said the cost of the second phase is for equipment cost and installation costs.
“It might not include a building or something or any civic works,” he said. “And that is an estimate. When we would get into the project, we would provide a more detailed scope of delivery.”
He said the price tag actually would be cost effective compared to a project that could take “multiple millions of dollars and many, many years.”
“The idea here is that we’d be able to save time and money for the citizens with our type of technology that we use,” he added.
Asked if his company (founded in 2013) has done this in other communities, he said yes, but noted that Batavia’s situation is unique.
“Most people are in a situation where they’re trying to get rid of water; like our other customers who are trying to treat it to meet the discharge requirements, or they are looking for a potable water system.
“In this situation, it’s kind of a very forward-thinking approach by the team in Batavia to see how they can address both the reducing the discharge into the environment as well as presenting options for direct potable reuse — which would make more water available for the treatment plant to treat.”
Davy said if it does work out as intended, this process would be “a low cost and fast way to address some of the water quality shortages that they have in Batavia, which would be phenomenal.”
“That would really position them as a leader in this space in terms of addressing both excessive nutrients getting back into the environment and also being a better steward of the aquifer and water conservation. It’s really an exciting project if it does go forward.”
The Williamsville resident said Econse – as a builder of water treatment systems — has the means to ramp up production beyond these two phases.
“We’ve worked over the past 10 years on building things in house to make it so that it’s affordable and effective for different communities that we work with,” he said. “And this is a scalable technology so it could be scaled up to address larger volumes in the future. So, I think this is something that can grow with Batavia.”
He said he sees it as a good fit for the city.
“Everybody has plans but when the first step is 20 million dollars, it takes a long time to take that first step. But when you can make us a significant impact for less, and adjust for these issues, immediately they’re able to provide more clean water.”