JERSEY CITY MUA PHASE 3 AND 4 SEWER IMPROVEMENTS

The Jersey City Municipal Utilities Authority ("JCMUA") recently completed clean water improvements that are being funded with approximately $35.7 million in loans from the NJ Water Bank, a joint low-rate funding program of the DEP and the NJ I-Bank. Because this was a project to address combined sewer overflow issues, it qualified for principal forgiveness totaling $4,853,023. Including interest cost savings, total savings for this project are estimated to be $14,290,354 over the 30-year term of the loan or 40% of the total project cost. In addition, this project created an estimated 428 direct construction jobs.

Combined sewer systems are designed to transport sewage, industrial wastewater and rainwater runoff in the same pipes to wastewater treatment plants. During periods of heavy rainfall, the volume of wastewater traveling through a combined sewer system can exceed the capacity of the treatment plant. Resulting overflows, called combined sewer overflows (CSOs), contain not only stormwater but also pollutants such as untreated human and industrial waste, toxic materials, and debris. They pose risks to human health, threaten aquatic life and habitats, and impair the use and enjoyment of the nation's waterways.

Field data collected from over 2,000 manholes recorded the structural and operational condition of the manholes and connecting pipes in JCMUA's combined sewer system to identify blockages. The project restored approximately 17,000 linear feet of combined sewers to capacity by removing, repairing and rehabilitating these blockages. Approximately 11,500 linear feet of these rehabilitated combined sewers were determined to be beyond repair and replaced.

Jose Cunha, Executive Director of the JCMUA, praised the project. "Improving the conditions of our combined sewer system is a priority for all of us. Our MUA borrows strategically from the NJ Water Bank, and in this project alone, we have saved our rate payers and residents an impressive 40% of the total project costs that we might have paid by borrowing away from the Water Bank. In addition, this project has resulted in health benefits for the Jersey City community, CSO improvements for the environment, and financial advantages for our ratepayers that will have an impact for years to come."

This project was designed by Mott MacDonald and in-house staff at JCMUA and constructed by Underground Utilities Corporation.

Picture courtesy of Mott MacDonald