{"id":69949,"date":"2025-11-10T15:43:22","date_gmt":"2025-11-10T20:43:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/videonewsservice.net\/?p=69949"},"modified":"2025-11-10T15:45:03","modified_gmt":"2025-11-10T20:45:03","slug":"water-technologies-company-ceo-commends-city-leaders-for-forward-thinking","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/videonewsservice.net\/index.php\/2025\/11\/10\/water-technologies-company-ceo-commends-city-leaders-for-forward-thinking\/","title":{"rendered":"GENESEE COUNTY\/Water technologies company CEO commends city leaders for \u2018forward thinking\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"<\/figure>
\n

BY MIKE PETTINELLA
For Video News Service<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The City of Batavia is taking a \u201cforward thinking approach\u201d by exploring different ways to increase its water supply.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

(Photo by Mike Pettinella)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

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 \u201curgent challenges\u201d facing the municipality:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

— Water scarcity due to increasing demand and regional droughts.
— Regulatory pressure to reduce phosphorus, total suspended solids and biological oxygen demand from the city\u2019s wastewater treatment plant before discharge into the Tonawanda Creek.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A resolution authorizing an agreement with Econse for the pilot project to support advanced water treatment is on the agenda of tonight\u2019s (Nov. 10) City Council Business Meeting at City Hall Council Chambers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Davy, who oversees offices in Lockport and in St. Catharines, Ontario, spoke to Video News Service by telephone this afternoon about his pilot plan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He said the purpose of the project is \u201cto show that there are multiple things that can be achieved to solve some of the water crises for Batavia.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe water quality in the creek that it\u2019s discharging to due to climate change is deteriorating and that has an impact on the water quality coming to the city,\u201d he said, when asked to explain the proposal in layman\u2019s terms. \u201cAnd, 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.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Davy said it\u2019s a matter of city officials seeking to meet discharge targets to preserve the environmental quality of the creek.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThis 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.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to his proposal dated Sept. 16 and discussed at City Council\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Phase 1, constructing a climate-controlled structure next to the wastewater treatment plant\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Davy said the cost of the second phase is for equipment cost and installation costs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt might not include a building or something or any civic works,\u201d he said. \u201cAnd that is an estimate. When we would get into the project, we would provide a more detailed scope of delivery.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He said the price tag actually would be cost effective compared to a project that could take \u201cmultiple millions of dollars and many, many years.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe idea here is that we’d be able to save time and money for the citizens with our type of technology that we use,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Asked if his company (founded in 2013) has done this in other communities, he said yes, but noted that Batavia\u2019s situation is unique.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cMost 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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIn 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.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Davy said if it does work out as intended, this process would be \u201ca low cost and fast way to address some of the water quality shortages that they have in Batavia, which would be phenomenal.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThat 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\u2019s really an exciting project if it does go forward.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Williamsville resident said Econse \u2013 as a builder of water treatment systems — has the means to ramp up production beyond these two phases.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe’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,\u201d he said. \u201cAnd 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.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He said he sees it as a good fit for the city.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cEverybody 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.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

BY MIKE PETTINELLAFor Video News Service The City of Batavia is taking a \u201cforward thinking approach\u201d 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 \u2026<\/p>\n

Continue reading<\/i><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":69951,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_seo_schema_type":"","_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[4705],"tags":[1535,5462,5461],"class_list":["post-69949","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-city-of-batavia","tag-city-of-batavia","tag-derek-davy","tag-econse-water-technologies"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p8eTP4-icd","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":54039,"url":"https:\/\/videonewsservice.net\/index.php\/2024\/06\/14\/batavia-city-of-batavia-continues-to-address-aging-water-infrastructure-asking-for-assistance-from-county-state-and-federal-levels-for-water-and-lead-line-replacement-projects\/","url_meta":{"origin":69949,"position":0},"title":"BATAVIA\/City of Batavia continues to address aging water infrastructure, asking for assistance from County, State and Federal levels for water and lead line replacement projects","author":"aka","date":"June 14, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"Press release The City of Batavia continues to seek funding to address aging water infrastructure and lead service lines across the City.\u00a0 Currently the City has applied for three separate different water related grants including: 1.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0A Water Infrastructure Improvement Act grant for a $4.17 M project to replace two aging\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Batavia"","block_context":{"text":"Batavia","link":"https:\/\/videonewsservice.net\/index.php\/category\/gennesse-county\/batavia\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":59750,"url":"https:\/\/videonewsservice.net\/index.php\/2024\/12\/10\/batavia-superintendent-of-water-and-wastewater-to-join-city-of-batavia\/","url_meta":{"origin":69949,"position":1},"title":"BATAVIA\/Superintendent of Water and Wastewater to join City of Batavia","author":"aka","date":"December 10, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"Press release Batavia, NY- The City of Batavia is pleased to announce the appointment of Bailey Groth to the position of Superintendent of Water and Wastewater for the City of Batavia. 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