New Tank for the Northern Westchester Joint Waterworks

CORTLANDT, NY — A new water tank tops the work the Northern Westchester Joint Water Works has done in its two decades of collaboration.

“The NWJWW worked expeditiously and efficiently to replace a failing water tank with a new larger capacity tank all within 12 months and with no disruption of service,” Somers town Supervisor Rick Morrissey said in an announcement about the new tank.

The NWJWW was formed in 1995 to meet an EPA mandate for filtered water.

"We collaborated on a shared service with the Towns of Cortlandt, Yorktown and Somers and with the Montrose Improvement District (M.I.D.) to meet these requirements set by the EPA," said Cortlandt Town Supervisor Linda Puglisi. "Over the years we have not only filtered our water, built a new filtration plant off Rte. 6 in Cortlandt, upgraded another plant in Somers, established a dual connecting waterline system for these communities and now have replaced an existing water storage tank with a new, larger tank."

Working together initially as a joint waterworks allowed each municipality to pay less to meet the filtration needs set by the EPA and therefore this plan has benefited the water consumers and taxpayers.

"We have received many awards over the years for our early shared service approach to meeting unfunded mandates," she said. Safe drinking water is necessary, she said. However, there is never any funding assistance from other levels of government who place the mandates.

Details on the new water storage tank which is now in operation:

1. The new tank 3.85 millions of gallons – increased storage by 28 percent from the older tank which was built in 1969 and needed to be replaced.
2. Cost of this tank project was $3.1 million and the bond is shared by all four members proportionally.
3. The tank went on-line Dec. 12, 2016 and took approximately six months to construct.
4. The location is on the NWJWW site off Rte. 6 (Cortlandt Boulevard).
“The recent NWJWW tank replacement project is a project all our municipalities can be very proud of," Town of Yorktown Supervisor Michael Grace said in the announcement. "It came in at budget and on time. It proves that under the right leadership government can work efficiently and effectively. Kudos to all involved.”
The Montrose Improvement District commissioners complimented the employees of the NWJWW for their dedication to providing cost effective quality water by completing projects like the new tank on budget so quickly.

PHOTO: New NWJWW tank/Matthew Geho