PAUL ERRIGO AND PARTNERS ARE DRIVING SUSTAINABILITY, DEVELOPING NEW TECHNOLOGIES AT THEIR NEW JERSEY-BASED ENERGY AND WATER CONSERVATION COMPANIES

BY JESSICA JONES-GORMAN • PHOTOS BY TOM ZAPCIC

Two years ago, when Paul Errigo started cloning NYC water with his high-tech patented filtration system, pizza makers and bakers across the country rejoiced. Turning hardened, flat tap water into honest-to-goodness New York liquid gold, which has long been revered for its amazingly potent pH properties, the New Jersey-based entrepreneur found himself sitting on a million dollar idea. Reality TV shows came calling, the news media swooned, and lines of curious customers formed wherever his product was installed. Now prominently featured in 30 cities across the country and employed by major chains like Whole Foods, Errigo’s New York WaterMaker has helped hundreds of business owners gain notoriety and increased sales. But the intrepid industrialist is now focusing on bigger, more global projects – and dipping his toe into deeper waters of purification.

“We are currently developing a different type of water purification system for emergency preparedness,” Errigo shared. “With this system you can drop a hose into the Passaic River, suck out some water, and instantly purify it for drinking. The idea behind these portable units is to deliver clean, safe drinking water during a natural disaster. If there is a hurricane or some other catastrophe, our system can create drinking water from uncontrolled sources.”

Tested by third party environmental experts, the ePrep machine, which is patented by Errigo’s company, DaVinci Water Technologies, is also taking a cue from the world’s endangered ecosystem.
“Plastic water bottles have become a worldwide concern with many people and major corporations now using fill stations to help reduce the plight that plastics are causing to our oceans and landfills. These portable units not only serve an important purpose in natural disasters, they can also serve as filling stations, helping to reduce our footprint. It’s an exciting step for our company and we expect it to be market ready in 12 to 24 months.”

It’s just a small part of the industrious establishment that Errigo has helped build.
“I love helping businesses grow and thrive,” Errigo said of his entrepreneurial efforts. “Building long-term partnerships with companies both small and large is at the heart of what I do. I enjoy helping businesses increase their profits and improve their products.”

The natural enterpriser, who graduated from St. John’s University with a degree in marketing, worked as a sales manager for an environmental services company before changing lanes and launching his own collection agency that tracked down scofflaws who defaulted on car payments and gym memberships. After growing that company to 180 employees, he sold it for a significant amount in 2010.

“I’ve always been an entrepreneur,” he admitted. “I’ve had several businesses over the past few decades – most were successful, a couple were what I like to call ‘learning experiences.’ But all roads eventually led me to the energy business.”

Introduced to energy conservation by his current business partner, Al Dorso, Errigo did a lot of research before launching GreenCrown Energy in 2007. The company’s founding purpose was to serve as an unbiased advocate for their customers, helping to decrease energy spending, reduce energy consumption, and drive sustainability.

“When we first launched, our main objective was to help businesses go green. We installed LED lights, reduced their kilowatt consumption, and helped them become LEED certified. Gradually we grew from energy brokerage to a full-service energy advisory firm. We specialize in energy supply and turnkey measures and are considered one of the nation’s most trusted energy risk advisory firms.”

Employed by Fortune 500 companies and small businesses alike, GreenCrown Energy, which is operated by Errigo, Dorso, and Salvatore Ritorto, reduces energy costs for its clients while keeping them informed of government incentives for taking such measures. Water conservation became the next natural step for the company in 2017.

“Water is the next big way for companies to cut their bills, so it was very natural for us to merge into GreenCrown Energy & Water,” Errigo said. “This division of the company specializes in conservation, filtration, and disinfection of water in restaurants, hotels, and other businesses.”

And out of that water conservation concept, New York WaterMaker was born.

“We introduced the New York WaterMaker at a Las Vegas Pizza Expo in 2018, and it set off a huge media firestorm. This is the world’s first water source replication system that allows us to copy the water composition of any water source in the world. For franchises it equals product consistency, for small mom-andpop businesses it’s an opportunity to stand out from the crowd.”

Operating under the realization that 65 to 75 percent of many food and beverage products is water based, Errigo and his business partners sought a way to duplicate the natural characteristics of the most famous water in the world.

“New York water has such a unique makeup because it is truly one of the cleanest and healthiest water sources in the world. It also happens that it has ideal characteristics in the way gluten reacts with it during the fermentation process.”

It’s universally true. Visit Florida, Arizona, Texas, or any other location known to have “hard” water, and it’s evident in the pizza crust and coffee. Errigo’s innovation was born from that truth.

“I was prepping for a trip to Florida, leaving my office more than an hour ahead of schedule to pick up bagels and bread for my mother. My chief science officer asked why I was leaving so early, and I said when you visit anyone outside of the NYC area, they expect you to bring bagels. That led to a conversation about the properties of New York water and why it is so crucial in the bread-making process. He then just casually said, ‘Why don’t we just create a filtration system that duplicates that water?’”

Bingo. Some quick sketches soon turned into a full-fledged conceptual plan.

“We built it so that it can duplicate any water, not just New York water,” Errigo explained.
“The system is used by a chain in San Francisco that wanted to replicate Bay area water in its franchises throughout the country. There’s a pizzeria in Texas that uses the system to create water from Naples, Italy. If you want to make authentic French baguettes, we can deliver water from Paris, France. It’s really an amazing system.”

Errigo says locations that install it are usually inundated with customers and food critics; lines form and there’s an average increase of sales by about 30 percent. It’s a phenomenon he hopes to take to a global level with his newest device.

“If we can help bring people clean water all over the world and deliver sustainability, eliminating the need for plastic bottles that would be an amazing task. That is currently driving this business to another level, and I’m excited about what we are poised to accomplish.”

Paul Errigo / New York WaterMaker
866.885.1522 / newyorkwatermaker.com