Ongoing Program Activities

At New Jersey American Water, source water protection is one of several important parts of our overall approach to provide clean, safe water for our customers. Below are some highlights for these initiatives.

Source Water Protection Planning

We are working to develop and implement voluntary source water protection plans for many of our water supplies. For more information about how you can get involved in ongoing source water protection efforts, contact us here.

Source Water Assessment

New Jersey American Water is using a method to compile contaminant information for our water sources. This consists of a Geographic Information System (GIS) map-based tool called WaterSuite that collects information about potential sources of contamination from various data sources and pulls it into a single contaminant information database for a defined area of interest. The information can be updated on a regular basis to include the latest information available and has dynamic search and reporting capabilities.

Source Water Monitoring

We have developed a source water monitoring program that uses continuous water quality indicator monitoring to optimize treatment operations and identify the presence of potential contaminants. The monitoring equipment is located at our surface water treatment facility intakes. These devices are not intended to identify specific contaminants, but rather to alert water systems of a potential change in water quality, spurring further investigative testing.

Contingency Plans

Water utilities can develop strategies to understand and manage risks to source water supplies, but no water utility can prevent the occurrence of chemical releases, power outages or natural disasters. That is why it is important to have emergency response plans to help facilities respond to a wide variety of potential emergency situations. We have emergency response plans in place, which are protected from public disclosure by bioterrorism laws put in place for the safety and security of water systems nationwide.

Get Notified in the Event of an Emergency

New Jersey American Water uses a high-speed mass notification system to keep customers informed about water related emergencies. Customers receive notifications through automated phone calls, text and e-mail. These alerts are available on the “Alert Notifications” page on our website, along with a map of the impacted area. To help us contact you quickly in an emergency, log on to www.mywater.amwater.com and confirm or update your contact information. Learn more about this notification system here.

Public Outreach and Education

Our source water protection program includes an outreach component to educate the community about their sources of drinking water and things that everyone can do to help protect and improve them. We use various outreach methods including:

• Water Quality Reports
• Environmental Grant Program
• Protect Our Watersheds Art Contest
• Water Learning Center

Learn more about our community involvement programs here.