NJ American Water Breaks Ground on New Plant

Lt. Gov. Kim Guadagno hopes in a year she gets to drink the first glass of water from .

New Jersey American Water broke ground on the new plant on Wednesday at its property along John F. Kennedy Parkway in Short Hills. The $72 million project is expected to be complete in 12-18 months.

Guadagno joined New Jersey American Water President John Bigelow along with local and state officials including Millburn Mayor Sandra Haimoff, Sen. Thomas Kean Jr., Assemblyman Jon Bramnick and Assemblywoman Nancy Munoz to break ground on the plant.

“This is a great day for the long-term growth of New Jersey American Water in Short Hills and across the State,” said Guadagno in a statement. “Not only will the project support 200 jobs and spur $72 million in capital investment, but it will place New Jersey at the forefront of efforts to provide high-quality, environmentally-driven water service to millions of customers. This is exactly the kind of state-of-the-art project that will prove critical to growing our economy in the years ahead.”

Board of Public Utilities Commissioner Joseph L. Fiordaliso, a Livingston resident, also pitched the project as economic development. It not only will create temporary jobs during construction, he said, it will create permanent jobs in the future.

Bigelow said safe water is tied to economic vitality and can be something people take for granted. The company has over 900 people focused on water quality.

The plant—which will serve Millburn-Short Hills, Livingston, Maplewood, Springfield, Summit and West Orange—will replace the current facility that dates back to the early 1900s and has been updated and upgraded over time. It will meet the 2012 standards under the Safe Drinking Water Act, which will eliminate problems that have come from algae in the adjacent reservoirs. Last summer area homes had  coming from their taps due to the algae. The process involves dissolved oxygen and ozone to disinfect the water.

Additionally, new energy efficient measures have been taken with the new plant, which include solar panels that will be installed on the reservoir.