Passaic Valley Water Commission Highlights Projects during Infrastructure Week 2024

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

(Clifton, N.J. – May 15, 2024) – Passaic Valley Water Commission (PVWC) proudly joins the nation in celebrating Infrastructure Week 2024, highlighting the crucial role of resilient water infrastructure in supporting communities.

Infrastructure Highlights by Passaic Valley Water Commission

1. Levine Reservoir Project: Drinking water, after it has been treated, is stored in an open-air drinking water reservoir. Storing water in this manner can allow contaminants, such as lead, to enter the water supply. That’s why PVWC will close the 20-million-gallon Levine Reservoir and replace it with enclosed storage tanks (20 million gallons is enough to fill 1,000 in-ground swimming pools!). This $35 million dollar project, which will break ground this year, will ensure that your treated drinking water will be stored in tanks, and not in an open body where ducks, geese, and other wildlife live.
2. Water Main Replacements: It’s no easy task to deliver clean drinking water to our 800,000 customers. PVWC owns over 650 miles of underground pipeline. That’s the driving distance from Clifton, New Jersey to Myrtle Beach, South Carolina! By 2030, almost 60% of these water mains, or about 390 miles, will be more than a century old and in need of repair or replacement. PVWC is investing more than $6 million to assess and replace water mains in the most critical areas of its system.
3. Hydrant Replacements: Hydrant upgrades are necessary to maintain the reliability of PVWC’s system, should the need for firefighting arise. In August 2022, PVWC initiated a contract worth more than $9 million to replace nearly 1,100 hydrants (over 20% of the hydrants in our system) in Clifton, Lodi, North Arlington, Passaic, Paterson, and Prospect Park. This contract will end this summer with the successful completion of the program.
4. Lead Service Line Replacements: Lead service water lines may have harmful health effects, especially in children up to 6-years-old and pregnant women. PVWC has been replacing lead service lines for nearly 40 years, but a law signed by Governor Phil Murphy in 2021 requires that water providers replace lead and galvanized service lines – both utility-owned and customer-owned – by 2031. PVWC is currently removing the remaining 6,500 + lead and galvanized water lines from its main system (Clifton, Passaic, Paterson, and Prospect Park) for a total program cost of about $36 million (70% will be forgiven, thanks to a loan from the New Jersey Infrastructure Bank). PVWC anticipates getting the remaining lead out of the system by 2031in compliance with the mandate.
5. Hydra-stop Insertion Valves: Hydra-stop insertion valves are beneficial for making repairs to a water main. When activated, it can stop or control the flow of water within the specific section of the pipe where it’s installed, thereby minimizing impact to customers in the area. PVWC employees were trained to install these insertion valves, thereby saving the company more than $15,000 for every water main that is repaired using an insertion valve.

“We are proud to participate in Infrastructure Week 2024 and showcase the vital role of water infrastructure in our communities,” said Jim Mueller, Executive Director at PVWC. “Through collaboration, education, and innovation, we are committed to ensuring a sustainable water future for generations to come.”

Join PVWC in celebrating Infrastructure Week 2024 and recognizing the critical importance of water infrastructure in our daily lives. For more information about PVWC, please visit pvwc.com.

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Passaic Valley Water Commission, recipient of the 2023 Association of Metropolitan Water Agencies Gold Award for exceptional utility performance, serves over 800,000 consumers in Bergen, Essex, Hudson, Morris and Passaic counties. Please follow us on X (@PVWC), Instagram (@passaic_valley_water) and/or Facebook (@thePVWC).