INFRASTRUCTURE INVESTMENTS

Resiliency and Environmental System Investments Providing clean, safe, reliable water has never been more important. New Jersey American Water takes its responsibility as the state’s largest water services provider seriously, and that’s why we invest more than $450 million annually into our systems. These investments include treating harmful PFAS chemicals found in the environment to meet safe drinking water standards and building resiliency in systems to protect against flooding and other climate impacts.

Your Water Bill at Work New Jersey residents in 190 communities, count on us to keep their water safe, clean and reliable. By constantly upgrading our infrastructure, we aim to keep it that way. Think of it as your water bill at work – right in your own neighborhood. New Jersey American Water invests more than $450 million annually — more than $1 million a day — in its treatment and distribution facilities. Large investments, such as water plants and tanks, have high visibility, however, a significant portion of our investment also goes toward upgrading underground water mains. These projects help to improve water quality, service reliability and fire protection for the communities we serve. And, they create jobs. For every $1 million invested in water infrastructure, it is estimated that 16 jobs are created.

In 2022 alone, New Jersey American Water invested more than $575 million was invested on system upgrades and important improvement projects across the company’s service areas throughout the year.

“New Jersey American Water is proud to provide safe, affordable and reliable water and wastewater service to our customers, and the investments we make into our infrastructure are the backbone of that success,” said Mark McDonough, president of New Jersey American Water. “From source to tap and back to the source again, our team of professionals works hard to upgrade and maintain our facilities to keep them operating efficiently, meeting or surpassing regulatory standards and delivering high quality water and wastewater service.”McDonough added, “In addition, this level of investment helps fuel the state’s economy by creating more than 9,000 jobs, and generating a steady pipeline of purchasing from suppliers, more than 25 percent of which are certified diverse businesses that we contract with as part of American Water’s Supplier Diversity Program.”

Each year, New Jersey American Water invests millions of dollars in its infrastructure, which includes both maintenance and upgrades to its treatment and distribution, or pipeline, systems. This includes investments into treatment plants, tanks, pump stations, miles of pipe, water mains, fire hydrants and metering equipment.

For 2022, system improvement highlights include:

• • Mains: The company invested $228.4 million to install, replace, or rehabilitate more than 110 miles of main. Pipe improvement projects help improve water quality, pressure, fire protection and service reliability. In addition, approximately $4.3 million in leak detection equipment was invested to enhance our ability to respond to leaks and breaks.
  • Source Water, Treatment and Other Production System Improvements: New Jersey American Water spent over $89.8 million for improvements at its water treatment facilities, including:
    • Raritan Millstone Water Treatment Plant - filter rehabilitation and water treatment residual press
    • Mill Road Station– iron removal
    • Canal Road Water Treatment Plant – treatment upgrades
    • Jumping Brook Water Treatment Plant – installation of clearwell and pump station and treatment improvements
    • Various facilities around the state - automation and control system upgrades
  • Fire Hydrants: The company replaced 465 fire hydrants and 2,005 valves, an approximately $19.2 million investment.
  • Service Lines: New Jersey American Water replaced 11,469 service lines; an investment totaling approximately $43.8 million. This includes the replacement of approximately 2,565 lead or galvanized utility-owned and customer-owned service lines as part of the company’s lead service line replacement program.
  • Tanks/Storage: New Jersey American Water rehabilitated seven water tanks and conducted detailed inspections on 56 tanks, an investment totaling approximately $13.5 million.

Why Are Capital Investments so Important?

According to the 2021 Report Card by the American Society of Civil Engineers, New Jersey has $8.6 billion in drinking water infrastructure needs and $17.5 billion in wastewater infrastructure needs. Success in a 21st-century economy requires serious, sustained leadership on infrastructure investment at all levels of government. Delaying these investments only escalates the cost and risks of an aging infrastructure system, an option that the country, New Jersey, and families can no longer afford.

That’s why New Jersey American Water, proactively replaces aging pipe and upgrades our facilities to continue to deliver reliable service, high-quality water and fire protection.

Some Examples of our Recent Improvements