New Jersey American Water Participates in 7th Annual Infrastructure Week, May 13-20
Helps to educate New Jersey on the importance of infrastructure
and ways to #BuildForTomorrow
CAMDEN, N.J.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–lt;a href=”https://twitter.com/hashtag/BuildForTomorrow?src=hash” target=”_blank”gt;#BuildForTomorrowlt;/agt;–New
Jersey American Water is proud to be joining the hundreds of
businesses, labor organizations, elected officials and others in
spreading the message that we must #BuildForTomorrow during this year’s Infrastructure
Week, held May 13-20. In its seventh year, Infrastructure Week is a
national week of events, media coverage, education and issue advocacy
designed to elevate infrastructure as a critical issue impacting the
economy, society, security and future.
“Many of us take infrastructure for granted, with the average resident
unaware of just how much it impacts daily life,” said Cheryl Norton,
president of New Jersey American Water. “New Jersey American Water
successfully owns, operates and maintains seven surface water treatment
plants, 258 wells and 20 wastewater treatment plants, as well as
approximately 9,600 miles of water and wastewater pipes, all to serve
customers in 192 communities throughout the state. Infrastructure Week
is the perfect time to educate our customers about the investments we
make to ensure reliable service now and for the future, and the benefits
of those investments to the communities we serve.”
The state of America’s infrastructure is one of the most pressing issues
facing us as a nation. The American Society of Civil Engineers in 2017
graded our nation’s water infrastructure a D+ and wastewater
infrastructure a D-, and have estimated that the need over the next 25
years is $1 trillion.
New Jersey American Water invested more than $330 million on systems
upgrades statewide in 2018 – nearly a million dollars a day – to ensure
quality and reliability. Of that amount, more than $102.4 million was
invested to replace and rehabilitate more than 67 miles of aging pipe
and install new main to serve additional areas, and more than $2 million
was spent on leak detection technology to enhance the company’s ability
to respond to leaks and breaks. Since 2010, the company has invested
nearly $2.4 billion in system improvements and follows robust asset
management plan that includes about a 90- to 100-year pipe replacement
rate annually.
In addition to the direct benefits to customers, these investments also
benefit the state’s economy. This week a new brochure, “How Water
Investments Drive New Jersey’s Economy,” was released by the New Jersey
section of the American Water Works Association, Jersey Water Works, and
other partners. The brochure contains supporting facts for investment.
For example, a $1 billion investment in the state’s water infrastructure
would create 13,787 jobs; and from those jobs, workers would earn $739.5
million and state and local economies would receive $143.1 million in
new revenue. In 2016, nearly 1.7 million workers were directly involved
in designing, constructing, and operating water systems and
infrastructure.
In addition to annual investment in infrastructure, New Jersey American
Water’s systems continue to be in compliance with all the core standards
and requirements set forth by New Jersey’s Water Quality Accountability
Act. Passed into law in July 2017, the Water Quality Accountability Act
is aimed at enhancing the reliability and safety of drinking water from
every water provider in the state. With a focus on accountability and
transparency, this law establishes statewide standards for investment
into water systems with more than 500 service connections for all water
purveyors that is consistent with industry best practices.
“The Water Quality Accountability Act takes a proactive look at our
state’s aging infrastructure while aiming to raise the level of
investment and overall accountability of every water provider in New
Jersey. Our efforts to evaluate our systems and provide accurate and
thorough reporting of our compliance with this law reinforce our
commitment to the safe and reliable delivery of quality water service to
every customer in the state,” added Norton.
“We are thrilled that New Jersey American Water is
joining Infrastructure Week. The state of America’s
infrastructure is one of the most pressing issues facing us as a nation.
The benefits of a stronger, better infrastructure system could be
immense, but we urgently need political courage and leadership on this
issue,” said Zach Schafer, executive director, Infrastructure Week.
“During Infrastructure Week, we bring together the
public and private sector to encourage lawmakers to think long-term, and
invest in infrastructure at the federal, state and local level.”
For more information on New Jersey American Water, visit www.newjerseyamwater.com.
For additional information about Infrastructure Week, visit http://infrastructureweek.org/.
New Jersey American Water, a subsidiary of American Water (NYSE: AWK),
is the largest investor-owned water utility in the state, providing
high-quality and reliable water and/or wastewater services to
approximately 2.7 million people. For more information, visit www.newjerseyamwater.com
and follow New Jersey American Water on Twitter
and Facebook.
With a history dating back to 1886, American Water is the largest and
most geographically diverse U.S. publicly traded water and wastewater
utility company. The company employs more than 7,100 dedicated
professionals who provide regulated and market-based drinking water,
wastewater and other related services to an estimated 14 million people
in 46 states and Ontario, Canada. American Water provides safe, clean,
affordable and reliable water services to our customers to make sure we
keep their lives flowing. For more information, visit www.amwater.com.
Contacts
Denise Venuti Free
Director of Communications and External Affairs
856-955-4874
denise.free@amwater.com
Chelsea Simkins, External Affairs Manager
609-677-4642
chelsea.simkins@amwater.com