New Jersey American Water completes flood protection project in Somerset County

New Jersey American Water has completed a $37m flood protection project at its Raritan-Millstone Water Treatment Plant in Bridgewater, Somerset County.

The Raritan-Millstone Water Treatment Plant provides water supply to seven counties in central New Jersey.

On an average, it delivers 132 million gallons a day (MGD) and can touch a peak of 190 MGD.

With the completion of this project, water supply at the facility can be safeguarded from the flooding risk during extreme weather cases. This will ensure sustainable water supply for more than 1 million people in the central region of New Jersey.

New Jersey American Water president Deborah Degillio said: “We have fortified this critical infrastructure in order to provide clean, safe, reliable water service – not only to our customers in Central New Jersey who rely on us every day, but also the millions of residents throughout the state we help during emergency situations.”

The Raritan-Millstone plant is also considered critical infrastructure by the federal Department of Homeland Security.

The plant supplies water to five large bulk water sales connections, and two Critical Regional Emergency Interconnections in the cities of Newark and Trenton.

It is situated close to the confluence of the Raritan and Millstone Rivers and experiences flooding during storm events.

Earlier, concrete flood wall surrounding the plant was intended to offer flood protection for a 100-year flood event and had an elevation of 44ft. With the completion of this $37m project, the entire floodwall system at the plant has now been raised by four feet to an elevation of 48ft. The increase in floodwall elevation now offers flood protection from storm events for up to 500-year recurring frequency.

AECOM was contracted to provide design engineering for the project, while KC Construction served as general construction contractor.

Most of the cost of raising the floodwall, which amounts to around $27.2m, was funded through financing from New Jersey Infrastructure Bank in partnership with the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection.

New Jersey American Water is a unit of American Water. It provides water and wastewater services to around 2.7 million people.

Employing 6,800 people, American Water provides services to an estimated 15 million people in 47 US states and Ontario of Canada.