History

As a community grows from a settlement to the city, the development and expansion of its water supply must keep apace of the growth will be curtailed. Early settlers obtained their water supplies individually from wells or other sources, but as the settlement increases in population and industries are developed, the need for a public water supply becomes an obvious necessity.

Paterson and the surrounding area developed rapidly after the establishment of the S. U. M. (The Society for Establishing Useful Manufactures) in 1791, and in 1849 the Passaic Consolidated Water was incorporated and secured franchises for the distribution of water to the Town of Paterson, and envious, then known as the Township of Manchester. The principal intake of the Company was completed in 1857 and was located on the Passaic River below the Great Falls in Paterson and the water supply was pumped directly from the River into the mains supplying the City. Subsequently the intake was moved to a point on the River immediately above the Falls and in 1899 was again moved and this time located at the present intake on the Passaic River at Little Falls, approximately five miles upstream from Paterson. Up to this date the water supply was taken directly from the River and distributed to consumers without treatment. As the communities grew and the demand for a better quality of water increased and in 1902 a Filtration Plant at Little Falls was completed and put into operation. This installation comprised the first large water filtration plant in the United States and is the same plant now being operated by the Passaic Valley Water Commission for the filtration and purification of its Passaic Supply.

In 1916 the need for additional water supply for the northern metropolitan area of New Jersey was foreseen and the North Jersey District Water Supply Commission was created by an Act of Legislature for the purpose of entering into contract with a municipality, or group of municipalities, desiring to construct additional water supplies. The City of Newark was the first to contract with the newly formed Commission and interested other municipalities, including Paterson, Passaic and Clifton, in the construction of a joint project. The funds were raised by the individual cities through bond issues, and the North Jersey District Water Supply Commission constructed the Wanaque Reservoir and appurtenances by the erection of the Raymond Dam across the Wanaque River at Wanaque, New Jersey. In proportion to their capital investments in the project, the cities were apportioned allotments of the safe yield totaling 100 million gallons per day. This project was completed in 1930 when the first water was turned into the aqueduct.

As aforementioned, the Cities of Paterson, Passaic and Clifton had voted by referendum to participate in the Wanaque water supply project and had raised the necessary funds for this purpose. The water utility then furnishing the cities' supply from the Passaic River through the Little Falls Purification Plant was the Passaic Consolidated Water Company, a private company, the acquisition of which was undertaken by the cities.

To accomplish this purpose the Passaic Valley Water Commission was created by an Act of Legislature in 1927, its function being to acquire the privately owned water works system for the three cities and to continue in office to operate the water supply and distribution system for the cities. Condemnation proceedings were started and the purchase of the system was finally executed in 1930 at the purchase price of approximately $13,500,000.00. The Wanaque Supply was brought into the system by the construction of a pipe line from the Wanaque aqueduct into the Little Falls Plant. This construction and other major improvements to the system were completed in 1932.

 

System Overview

PVWC supplies high-quality drinking water to almost 800,000 people across four (4) counties in Northern New Jersey: Passaic, Bergen, Essex and Morris. The population served is split between retail cities where PVWC operates and maintains the water distribution pipes in addition to supplying water; and 23 wholesale cities where PVWC supplies water and the distribution systems are operated independently by municipalities or other water utilities. In addition, dozens of interconnecions exist between PVWC’s water distribuion system and surrounding water systems to share water resources in the event of planned infrastructure outages for maintenance and capital upgrades or unplanned emergencies.

There are two major water sources: 1) Wanaque Reservoir – treated and conveyed to PVWC by North Jersey District Water Supply Commission (NJDWSC); and 2) Passaic River – treated by PVWC at the Little Falls Water Treatment Plant in Totowa, NJ. The total annual average daily flow is 77 million gallons per day (MGD) with 35 MGD provided by NJDWSC and 42MGD provided by the PVWC Little Falls Treatment Plant (see map below). PVWC also operates the Post Brook groundwater supply and distribution system in West Milford and the High Crest storage tanks feeding part of West Milford.

Water Treatment

PVWC has a rich history of service, adaptation and innovation spanning 175 years since the Passaic Water Company was incorporated in 1849, securing franchises for water distribution with the town of Paterson and surrounding areas. Under the guidance of water industry titans such as George Warren Fuller, Allen Hazen, and Dr. John L. Leal, the company has always been an industry leader. PVWC constructed the world’s first large scale rapid filtration plant in Little Falls, NJ in 1902 and became one of the first large scale users of chlorine for drinking water disinfection. Since that time, filtration upgrades have been constructed in the 1960’s and 1980’s that are still in service today. In 2004, the last major upgrade of the treatment plant was completed including modern instrumentation and a smaller site footprint with high-rate, sand-ballasted settling, the largest of its kind in North America at the time of commissioning. Ozonation was also added as a safer disinfection alternative to the previous chlorine gas process which had been a higher safety threat to the community in the event of an unplanned release. The plant was renamed the Alan C. Levine Little Falls Treatment Plant after the former PVWC Commissioner and President.

Reservoirs

Storage is a necessary component of the water supply system to meet high peak demands, maintain pressure in the system, provide a buffer for droughts and allow various components of the system to be out of service for maintenance or repair. The Stony Road reservoir completed in 1886 located in Paterson, is still in service today and was renamed the Levine Reservoir, after the former PVWC commissioner, Stanley M. Levine. This 20-million-gallon (MG) reservoir is one (1) of three (3) uncovered, reservoirs that store treated water where it is distributed to customers as needed for potable use. The other uncovered, finished water reservoirs are New Street, constructed in 1925 in Woodland Park with a capacity of 52 MG and Great Notch, constructed in 1900 with a capacity of 179MG. In 1964, PVWC completed construction on a fourth reservoir to store raw, untreated water in Wayne, NJ, named the Point View reservoir with a capacity of 3 billion gallons. This reservoir can release water back to the Pompton River in times of drought to either be pumped out and treated through the NJDWSC treatment plant in Wanaque or PVWC’s Little Falls Water Treatment Plant, and then put into distribution.

Distribution System

As water treatment and storage was evolving, the PVWC water distribution system was also being expanded to support community growth of local residences and businesses. There are currently 647 miles of water mains operated and maintained by PVWC serving six (6) cities/towns that include: Paterson, Clifton, Passaic, Prospect Park, Lodi and North Arlington. The retail service area has a population of approximately 370,000 with a significant amount of the system containing pipes ranging between 100-135 years old. Paterson, the largest city in the service area with a population of almost 160,000, has 223 miles of pipe with 72% of the existing pipes constructed between 1890 and 1925. Clifton, with a population of 90,000, has 211 miles of pipe, with over one-third (1/3) constructed between 1940 and 1950 during, and immediately following, World War II. Passaic, with a population of 70,000, has 73 miles of pipe with almost 70% constructed between 1890 and 1925. Prospect Park has a similar growth pattern to Patterson and Passaic with a population of 6,300 and 9 miles of pipe. Lodi, with a population of 26,000 and 51 miles of pipe, experienced system expansion throughout the 1960’s. Finally, North Arlington, with a population of 16,000 and 36 miles of pipe, experienced significant expansion between 1910 and 1930. By the year 2030, almost 60% of the pipes system-wide will be at least 100 years old with some approaching 150 years old.