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Upgrades Completed To Water Treatment Plant In New Rochelle

NEW ROCHELLE, N.Y. – The $250 million upgrade to the New Rochelle Water Resource Recovery Facility, the largest public works project in the county’s history, has been completed on time and under budget, officials said.

From left: Shay Gavin, Nancy Seligson, MaryJane Shimsky, New Rochelle Mayor Noam Bramson, Jim Maisano, Carl Petrillo, Jay Pisco, Thomas Lauro, County Executive Robert Astorino; Robert Butterworth, Rengachari Nivas, Kevin Plunkett and Sheila Marcotte.

From left: Shay Gavin, Nancy Seligson, MaryJane Shimsky, New Rochelle Mayor Noam Bramson, Jim Maisano, Carl Petrillo, Jay Pisco, Thomas Lauro, County Executive Robert Astorino; Robert Butterworth, Rengachari Nivas, Kevin Plunkett and Sheila Marcotte.

Photo Credit: Contributed

“Despite the complexity of the project to meet new environmental standards and improve water quality, our engineers’ consortium and contractor completed a state-of-the-art solution that was both on time and under budget,” said Westchester County Executive Robert Astorino. “The upgrades to the New Rochelle WRRF, with improvements to every process in the plant, mean a 50 percent larger wastewater capacity for New Rochelle, Mamaroneck, Larchmont and Pelham, plus a substantially cleaner Long Island Sound.”

Rengachari Nivas, president of Savin Engineers, the lead designer for the engineers’ consortium, said the project saved taxpayers nearly $300 million from the original plan while delivering a first of its kind wastewater treatment operation.

“We were able to exceed expectations, even of our own design and projections, with a nearly 90 percent reduction of nitrogen discharge into the Long Island Sound,” Nivas said.

“Yonkers Contracting is proud and pleased to have completed such a complex and massive project for the county of Westchester,” said Mike Ryan, president of Yonkers Contracting Company. “This project is particularly rewarding because the facility provides fresh quality water to Long Island Sound.”

In June, the engineers’ consortium that designed the upgrades, including Savin Engineers, P.C., Arcadis, CDM Smith and GHD, was awarded “Project of the Year” by the New York State Society of Professional Engineers.

The project consisted of upgrades to every process to meet new permitting requirements. A new two-stage biological aerated filtration system has reduced nitrogen discharge to the Long Island Sound by nearly 87 percent. The project also includes Ultra Violet light disinfection systems that replaced chlorine disinfection and upgrades to the headworks and secondary treatment system to increase the plant’s capacity.

As part of the ribbon cutting ceremony, Commissioner Thomas Lauro, Department of Environmental Facilities, dedicated a bench outside the new Process Control Building to the memory of Louise Doyle, a longtime county employee who died in 2015. 

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