Erie County Water Authority

What Erie County Water Authority does

Erie County Water Authority (ECWA) is an independent public water authority established under New York State Public Authorities Law, headquartered in Buffalo, NY, and serving more than 550,000 consumers across 36 municipalities in Erie County, New York. The authority draws source water from Lake Erie and the Niagara River and treats it through two facilities — the Sturgeon Point and Van De Water treatment plants — supported by storage tanks, pump stations, and an extensive network of transmission and distribution mains. ECWA operates a nationally recognized water quality laboratory that conducts approximately 70,000 monitoring tests annually on a 24/7/365 basis to ensure compliance with EPA and NYS drinking water standards.

The authority generates revenue primarily through commodity water rates charged per 1,000 gallons delivered (e.g., $4.64 per 1,000 gallons for small meter residential customers effective January 2024) plus a quarterly Infrastructure Investment Charge (ICC) that funds its capital program. Customer service is delivered through three contractual models: Direct Service (ECWA owns and operates the entire system), Lease Managed (ECWA manages operations, municipality funds capital), and Bulk Sale (ECWA sells water to municipalities for their own distribution). ECWA is governed by a Board of Commissioners and maintains a customer-facing digital ecosystem anchored by the my.ecwa.org self-service portal and the ECWA Alert System for emergency and service notifications.

ECWA is executing a 20-year, $1 billion Strategic Infrastructure Investment Plan, with a near-term focus on EPA-mandated lead service line replacement (estimated at $320+ million, targeting removal of approximately 6,000 lead service lines by 2028). Recent capital deployment has accelerated, with the 2022 infrastructure budget at $76.2 million (vs. $41.3 million in 2019), and the authority has secured federal and state grants — including a $1.6 million federal allocation announced in January 2026 — to offset lead pipe replacement costs and reduce ratepayer burden.

Name

Erie County Water Authority

Legal name

Erie County Water Authority

Website

https://ecwa.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

1949

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

251–500 employees

Short description

Erie County Water Authority is an independent public water utility serving 550,000+ consumers across 36 municipalities in Erie County, NY, operating two treatment plants, conducting 70,000+ water quality tests annually, and executing a $1 billion 20-year infrastructure investment plan.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Municipal Water Utility Services

NAICS

Water, Sewage and Other Systems (2213), Water Supply and Irrigation Systems (22131), Utilities (22)

SIC

Water Supply (4941), Electric, Gas & Sanitary Services (4900)

akta.pro primary industry

Water Quality Monitoring, Compliance & Reporting (Sampling, Lab, Regulatory) (EUANAAAG)

akta.pro secondary industries

Regulatory Compliance Monitoring & Reporting (SDWA/CWA/NPDES, permits, audits) (EUANAJAA), Watershed/Source Water & Raw Water Quality Monitoring (intakes, reservoirs, groundwater) (EUANAJAH), Water & Wastewater Compliance (NPDES/Stormwater, Pretreatment, Drinking Water/SDWA) (EUAHABAB), Rate Design, Tariff Administration & Regulatory Billing Compliance (EUANAIAF), Water Supply & Wastewater Utilities Administration (BPAIACAG)

Keywords

• Water utility services
• Drinking water treatment
• Municipal water distribution
• Lead service line replacement
• Water quality monitoring

Headquarters

HQ city

Buffalo

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Infrastructure, Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Others

Revenue model

1. Water Commodity Sales: ECWA generates primary revenue through commodity water rates charged per 1,000 gallons delivered to residential, commercial, and municipal customers. As of January 2024, the rate is $4.64 per 1,000 gallons for small meter residential customers. Revenue increases are tied to operational cost growth and infrastructure investment needs, with rate increases averaging at or below inflation over 20+ years. ECWA is the second lowest-cost water purveyor in Upstate and Central New York.
2. Infrastructure Investment Charge (ICC): Quarterly Infrastructure Investment Charge added to customer bills to fund system-wide capital improvements. For 2024, the ICC increased $2.28 per quarter for small meter customers. This charge is the primary funding mechanism for ECWA's multi-billion dollar infrastructure investment program.
3. Federal and State Grant Funding: ECWA receives grant funding from federal and state sources to offset costs of lead pipe replacement and infrastructure projects. For example, $1.6 million in federal funding was secured through Senators Gillibrand and Schumer for lead service line replacement, part of a $3.6 million WNY water infrastructure package.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

Erie County Water Authority is a public water authority that treats, transmits, and distributes drinking water to more than 550,000 residential and commercial consumers across 36 municipalities in Erie County, New York. ECWA delivers water through three service models — Direct Service (full ownership/operation), Lease Managed (operations run by ECWA, capital funded by the municipality), and Bulk Sale (wholesale supply) — and supports these customers with metered billing, a customer portal, an alert notification system, lead service line replacement under the EPA Get the Lead Out mandate, and 70,000+ annual water quality tests.

Product overview

The Erie County Water Authority (ECWA) operates as a public water utility providing water supply, treatment, and distribution services to over 550,000 customers across 36 municipalities in Erie County, New York. ECWA's customer-facing digital offerings consist of web-based self-service portals and programs rather than a unified software product. The core digital ecosystem includes the Customer Portal (my.ecwa.org) for account management and payments, the ECWA Alert System for emergency and public notifications, the Get the Lead Out Program for lead service line identification and replacement, the Lead and Copper Reporting System for customer self-reporting, and a Schools/Childcare Lead Sampling Program. Additional digital services include an engineering projects portal with design manuals and specifications, Annual Water Quality Reports, Board Meeting livestreaming, and a FOIL requests system. ECWA also maintains treatment plants (Sturgeon Point and Van De Water) and conducts extensive water quality monitoring (approximately 70,000 tests annually). The organization is not a technology company but rather a water infrastructure utility that provides digital services to support its core water utility operations.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Get the Lead Out Program: EPA-mandated program to identify and replace lead service lines by 2037

Products and services

• Water Supply Service (Direct Service / Lease Managed / Bulk Sale) Treated drinking water supplied to residential, commercial, and municipal customers across 36 municipalities in Erie County, NY, delivered through three contractual service models: Direct Service (ECWA owns and operates the full water system), Lease Managed (ECWA handles operations while the municipality funds capital improvements), and Bulk Sale (wholesale supply to municipalities for their own distribution).
• ECWA Customer Portal (my.ecwa.org) Online self-service portal that enables ECWA customers to view account details, pay water bills, manage water service, sign up for alerts, self-report water service line materials, and access water quality reports and records.
• ECWA Alert System Multi-channel notification service that lets ECWA customers receive emergency alerts (water main breaks, boil water advisories), non-emergency public notices, and service-related communications via phone, SMS/text, and email.
• Get the Lead Out Program EPA-mandated initiative under which ECWA identifies lead, copper, and galvanized steel service lines across its nine districts (using vacuum excavation and customer self-reporting) and replaces identified lead service lines at no cost to the homeowner, with the goal of removing all lead lines by 2028–2037.
• Lead and Copper Reporting System Online system enabling ECWA customers to self-report the material of their water service line (lead, copper, or galvanized steel) and supporting ECWA's compliance and inventory work under the EPA Lead and Copper Rule Improvements.
• Schools and Childcare Facilities Lead Sampling Program Enrollment program that allows K-12 schools and licensed childcare facilities in ECWA's service territory to participate in lead and copper water quality sampling and monitoring under EPA Lead and Copper Rule Improvements.
• Watermain Design and Construction Projects Portal Engineering portal providing access to ECWA's design manuals, standard specifications, technical specifications, and standard detail drawings for water infrastructure projects, supporting contractors and municipal partners.
• Annual Water Quality Report EPA-required annual Consumer Confidence Report delivering water quality test results, source water and treatment information, and regulatory compliance details to ECWA's 550,000+ customers.

Quantifiable outcome

• 70,000+ water quality monitoring tests conducted annually; zero violations of federal/state drinking water standards in recent years
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers2 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature4 records

Partnerships

Two partnerships are on record, tiered minor.

• Paymentus CorporationminorOthersThird-party payment processing provider used by ECWA to process online bill payments. Personal financial information is submitted via secure socket layer and held by Paymentus and KeyBank.
• KeyBankminorOthersFinancial institution partner used by ECWA for processing and holding personal financial information submitted through the online payment system.

Scale indicators9 records

Recent moves1 record

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Monroe County Water Authority: Upstate New York county water authority serving a comparable suburban/rural customer base around Rochester. Operates a similar authority governance model with treatment plants, distribution systems, and rate-based funding — the closest structural and operational analogue to ECWA.
• Buffalo Water: Operates the City of Buffalo's municipal water system, overlapping ECWA's Western New York service territory. Same regulatory regime (EPA + NYS DOH) and similar source water (Lake Erie), making it a direct geographic and operational peer.
• Suffolk County Water Authority: Large New York State county water authority serving Suffolk County on Long Island. Operates a similar public-authority structure with rate-based revenue, infrastructure investment programs, and EPA-mandated compliance obligations — strong structural parallel.
• Onondaga County Water Authority: Central New York county water authority (Syracuse region) operating under the same New York Public Authorities Law framework as ECWA. Comparable scale, public-authority governance, and municipal service territory model.

Broad incumbents

• DC Water: Large urban water and wastewater utility serving the District of Columbia. Operates a much larger scale and combined water/sewer mandate, but shares EPA + state-level regulatory compliance, infrastructure investment programs, and rate-base funding model.
• Pittsburgh Water and Sewer Authority: Regional water and sewer authority serving Pittsburgh with similar aging-infrastructure challenges, EPA consent decree experience, and public-authority governance. Comparable regulatory burden and lead service line replacement program.
• American Water Works Company: Largest publicly traded U.S. water and wastewater utility, serving over 14 million people across 14 states. Provides a comparable regulated water utility business model (rate-base earnings, capex programs, EPA compliance), though as a private investor-owned utility rather than public authority.
• Essential Utilities (formerly Aqua America): Large investor-owned water and natural gas utility serving ~5 million people across multiple states. Shares the regulated rate-base business model and infrastructure investment / EPA compliance framework with ECWA, though operating across many more jurisdictions.
• Suez Water (formerly SUEZ North America / Water Systems): Privately operated regulated water utility serving millions of customers across multiple U.S. states under state public utility commissions. Comparable rate-base revenue model and infrastructure investment cycle, though operating across a broader national footprint.

Regional players

• Cleveland Division of Water: Municipal water utility serving the City of Cleveland and surrounding communities in Northeast Ohio. Comparable Great Lakes source water, EPA compliance obligations, and large-scale treatment/distribution operations in a peer industrial Midwest region.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/ECWAuthority

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles15 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Erie County Water Authority