Our Mission
We created EarthTek to utilize our talents as engineers to develop better wastewater treatment solutions, concentrating on the design and fabrication of package plants. Common issues with wastewater treatment plants is that they have a bad reputation due to not meeting permit requirements, odors, noise, unsightliness, and high operating costs. This led us to developing top level solutions for these, and other problems.
KEVIN CHAFFEE, FOUNDER
Our History
Our company began in 1989 when I left my position as a city engineer, and started a consulting engineering firm. Our practice included water treatment and distribution, wastewater treatment and collection, stormwater and drainage, roads and street design, subdivision development, and land surveying. Over time we began to specialize in wastewater treatment projects for municipalities, residential subdivisions, and commercial projects. These projects helped me to develop, and patent new treatment processes that performed better, and were more efficient.
I found that I enjoyed both designing projects, as well as building them, and eventually the consulting firm was renamed earthTek. We began solely designing and providing wastewater collection and treatment solutions in 2011, and continue to provide these superb services today, and for all future projects.
Management Team
Kevin R. Chaffee, P.E. – Chief Engineer
Kevin Chaffee, P.E. is a licensed professional engineer, land surveyor, and water and wastewater treatment plant operator. He graduated in 1982 from Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology in Terre Haute, IN with a BS degree in Civil/Environmental Engineering. He worked for an Indianapolis engineering consultant as a project engineer for a large private water utility in northwest Indiana, and as a municipal engineer for Batesville, Indiana before starting his own consulting engineering firm in 1989.
His firm specialized in community water and wastewater projects, and designed several wastewater treatment plants. In 1998, he became involved in the decentralized wastewater industry. He currently has four patents issued on wastewater treatment systems, and others pending.
In 2011, Kevin founded earthTek Environmental, LLC (earthTek) to focus on providing packaged wastewater treatment plants to municipal, commercial, and industrial clients. earthTek currently designs and manufactures recirculating media filter (RMF), sequencing batch reactor (SBR), and moving bed biological reactor (MBBR) plants from 1,000 gpd and up. EarthTek also provides package wastewater process equipment including pumps, controls, aeration equipment, tertiary filters, and UV disinfection.
Kevin married his wife in 1982, and they have four children. He enjoys family time, sports, and flying his plane in his spare time.
Bannon K. Young – Operations Manager
Bannon Young is a graduate of Miami University in Oxford, OH with a B.A. in chemistry, and a minor in neuroscience. He completed an NSF honors research while in a college project analyzing the properties of membrane-bound proteins.
His experience prior to earthTek includes working as a microbiologist, and laboratory technician. At earthTek, Bannon is the manager of operations which includes marketing, engineer contact and support, equipment pricing and delivery, and quality control.
Joseph A. Chaffee – Manager of Field Services
Joe was born and raised in Batesville, Indiana. He is a 2008 graduate of Batesville High School. Upon completion of high school, he attended Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis where he studied Construction Engineering Management Technology. Joe worked construction for two years until enlisting in the United States Marine Corps in 2012. He served four honorable years, and obtained the rank of Corporal before retiring from the Marine Corps in December 2016. After moving back to his hometown of Batesville, Joe began working for earthTek, where he took on the role of Manager of Field Services. Joe continues to learn and grow in the wastewater treatment field, and is looking forward to many more years of service to the industry.
Jim L. Tonges – Engineer
Jim Tonges is a lifelong resident of Batesville, Indiana, where he and his wife Amy of 30+ years, still live, along with their six children. After graduating from Batesville High School in 1983, he served in the United States Army before furthering his education at Purdue University, where he earned a bachelors in Mechanical Engineering Technology.
After spending some time working in gray iron foundries, Ethicon Endo-Surgery, and various other engineering positions, he spent 17 years with Delta Faucet. From there, Jim gained further experience through various positions with Honda Motors, Batesville Casket Company, and Mesco Manufacturing.
Jim’s passion for the field of engineering led earthTek to reach out to him, and the rest is history. He is the company's lead engineer in the 3D modeling of our package plants, where he utilizes his knowledge in Creo, Catia, SolidWorks, and Alibre 3D modeling software. Jim also works as part of the company's field crew for the installation of our plants. He finds complete satisfaction in being involved with the projects from concept, through design, to installation, and ultimately seeing them get commissioned.
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