Local Water Tapped At Newtown Youth Academy

John F. Carney and Wylie Sawyer wrestled a new, environmentally friendly water filling station into place at Newtown Youth Academy (NYA) on Wednesday, August 29. Co-founders of the Norwalk-based Local Water LLC, the two spent their afternoon installing the first-of-a-kind water station in Newtown, one which filters and chills local tap water and allows people to refill personal water bottles at no cost to the customer or the facility.

“The install went great,” said Mr Carney. “We are fully flowing and functioning as of 8 pm [August 29], and the response has been great.”

NYA founder Peter J. D’Amico said, “Local Water has done a great job making it convenient for NYA members and staff to refill their bottles with filtered tap water. As a LEED certified facility, we are proud to work with Local Water to further reduce our environmental footprint.”

As the filling station filters and chills the tap water, it also reduces cyst, bacteria, sediment, and chlorine taste and odor. The water also goes through UV purification that sterilizes any bacteria that may get through the filter. The result is clean water.

Mr Sawyer said, “We are pleased to provide members and staff at the Newtown Youth Academy with a convenient, healthy way to hydrate and an alternative to bottled water.”

A resident of New Canaan, Mr Carney learned about NYA Through relatives in Newtown — his sister Bridget Sclafani, her husband Paul, and their daughters Brianna and Morgan.

“I felt they were green-conscious and the NYA sounded like a great place for a [water filtration] unit to go in.” The only other Local Water LLC unit, installed in August just days before the job at NYA, is in the New Canaan YMCA.

“These are the first installations of their kind anywhere,” said Mr Carney.

Where did the concept come from?

“I got the idea when I was pondering the issue of bottled water,” said Mr Sawyer. He found it “strange,” he said, that consumers in the United States reportedly spent billions of dollars on bottled water “in a country where potable tap water is almost always available.”

“My thinking was that if it was more convenient to refill a bottle with filtered tap water, more people would do it,” he added. He then considered how to go about installing the filling stations.

With the support of advertisers, it is possible to provide the filling stations to fitness centers and colleges for free, he said. Advertisers and sponsor also get the benefit of positive association, he said.

The business model enables Local Water, LLC to install and maintain the filling stations while collecting revenue from sponsors.

“We have developed an innovative business model that provides sponsors an opportunity to demonstrate their commitment to social responsibility. It is a win-win for everyone,” said Mr Carney.

Some of what Local Water brings in from the sponsors will go back to NYA, Mr Carney said. “We want to give back to the community that we are serving.”

The company’s water station at NYA is co-sponsored by Casey Energy, a home heating and cooling company based in Ridgefield, and Endless Pools, a Pennsylvania-based swimming pool manufacturer.

Local Water is a privately held limited liability company founded in 2011 by Mr Sawyer and Mr Carney. The company is currently working with other nonprofit fitness centers, YMCAs, colleges, universities, and Boys & Girls Clubs to expand its network of sponsored water filling stations regionally and nationally.