New Jersey American Water to increase spending on water infrastructure

New Jersey American Water plans to spend spend $140m over the next two years on upgrading underground infrastructure upgrade as part of a new distribution system improvement programme from the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities.

The annual underground infrastructure upgrade, normally at a cost of around $40m per annum, includes augmenting pipes, pumps and valves that are part of its 9,000 miles of underground infrastructure.

The company filed a foundational filling with the board proposing hundreds of projects that range from a $5m replacement of a century-old cast iron mains in Linden to a $13,000 replacement of a 2in-diameter pipe section in Cherry Hill.

The filing outlines engineering evaluation of the distribution system, a need for accelerated upgrade of the system, issues faced by the company in distribution and actions being taken to enhance the life of the underground assets.

New Jersey American Water vice president of engineering Suzanne Chiavari said the plan that the company has drawn for the accelerated upgrade of the underground infrastructure will address the US Environment Protection Agency’s concern related to aging infrastructure and future compliance with the Safe Drinking Water Act.

"It will also allow us to work on necessary infrastructure upgrades and replacements at reasonable costs based on a replacement plan that bids the work, allowing the contractor more flexibility as to timing, which significantly lowers the cost, as compared to emergency replacements which are very expensive and disruptive to the communities we serve," added Chiavari.

The distribution system improvement programme has been developed by the BPU following a lengthy public stakeholder process that lasted almost two years and will be funded through a distribution system improvement charge.