Westchester Joint Water Works Begins
Construction of $200M Filtration Plant
WEST HARRISON, NY—A long-sought public works project—one that has been mired in false starts, court mandates and litigation for more than 20 years—finally broke ground last week when officials gathered for a ceremonial “dirt throw” and celebration hosted by Westchester Joint Water Works on Sept. 26.
Following site-clearing completion, construction is expected to begin in weeks to build the 80,000/sf Rye Lake water filtration plant, at a cost of nearly $200 million.
Jaine Elkind Eney, chairperson of the Board of Trustees for the Westchester Joint Water Works, presided over the ceremony. She noted that the project secured a $30-million grant from the New York State Environmental Facilities Corporation and will be saving approximately $7 million in costs due to the prehire project labor accord (PLA) it signed with the local labor unions of the Building & Construction Trades Council of Westchester & Putnam Counties, Inc.
On Aug. 12, the Board of Trustees of the Westchester Joint Water Works approved a $172,761,500 contract with Yonkers Contracting Company, Inc., to construct the Rye Lake Filtration Plant at 4441 Purchase St. After securing title earlier this year on property formerly owned by Westchester County adjacent to Westchester County Airport, WJWW completed site clearing work (performed by ELQ Industries of New Rochelle) on the 5.7-acre site.
The plant will be a 30-million-gallons-per-day dissolved air flotation/filtration (DAFF) plant. The new water treatment facilities will consist of a main process building, a sanitary pump station, an electrical substation and generators.
The WJWW Water System supplies drinking water for its approximately 60,000 drinking water customers in the Town/Village of Harrison, the Village of Mamaroneck, and the Town of Mamaroneck, as well as portions of the City of Rye and the City of New Rochelle. It also indirectly supplies drinking water to an additional approximately 60,000 residents of the Village of Larchmont, the City of Rye, the Village of Rye Brook and the Village of Port Chester.
Due to logistical concerns, the ceremony was held at the Westchester Joint Water Works complex at 900 Lake St. in West Harrison and not the actual Rye Lake project site on Purchase Street.
In addition to Ms. Eney, who also serves as supervisor for the Town of Mamaroneck, those attending and speaking at the event included: Westchester County Executive Ken Jenkins; Westchester Legislators Catherine Parker, Nancy Barr, Erika Pierce and Margaret Cunzio; Westchester Commissioner of Public Works/Transportation Commissioner Hugh Greechan; Deputy Commissioner of the New York City Department of Environmental Protection Paul Rush; Union Building Trades President Jeff Loughlin; Hazen and Sawyer V.P. Eileen McCarthy Feldman, P.E. PMP; Yonkers Contracting Chairman Carl Petrillo; and Manager & CEO of WJWW Paul Kutzy.
Published: October 1, 2025.