Trenton Water Works will hold four public forums in its suburban service area in January 2020, with a potential rate hike among the subjects the utility promises to discuss.
The events—which TWW has dubbed “H2Open Forums”—will contain a 90-minute period for residents to ask questions. A release from TWW said officials will also discuss the utility’s six-year capital plan, its $150-million lead service line replacement program and corrosion-control project and TWW’s compliance with state Administrative Consent Orders, as well as its plans to expand its labor force and raise its rates and fees.
In December, TWW launched several key prongs of its effort to reform its image. First, on Dec. 3, TWW began adding orthophosphate to its water. Lead reacts with orthophosphate to form scale, which can prevent lead in corroding pipes and fixtures from leaching into water. Orthophosphate does not get rid of lead, however, and merely masks the problem.
TWW also began to rid lead from its system completely, starting the effort to replace lead service lines in Hamilton and Lawrence last month. Replacements in Ewing and Trenton won’t begin until February 2020. There are no lead service lines in Hopewell Township, which connected to TWW’s system after lead had stopped being used as a plumbing material.
The utility also announced in December it will open its Route 29 filtration plant to community group tours. Tours can be requested by contacting the utility directly. TWW interim director Steven Picco said, in an October interview with the Hamilton Post, that he hoped to undo the “bunker mentality” at the utility in part by allowing tours at the filtration facility.
“The more you understand something, the more you’re familiar with it, the more you’re comfortable with it,” he said then.
So, too, are the January forums an attempt to open up to TWW’s 225,000 customers—most of whom are in Hamilton Township, Ewing Township, Hopewell Township and Lawrence Township.
The forums are scheduled for Thursday, Jan. 9 at Hamilton High West, 2720 S. Clinton Avenue in Hamilton, Tuesday, Jan. 14 at the Ewing Senior Community Center, 999 Lower Ferry Road in Ewing, Tuesday, Jan. 21 at Stony Brook Elementary School, 20 Stephenson Road in Pennington, and Wednesday, Jan. 22 at Lawrence Senior Center, 30 Darrah Lane East in Lawrence. All forums run from 7-9 p.m.
The forums come on the heels of a year of mostly progress for TWW. Trenton Mayor Reed Gusciora said in November 2019 that testing has shown Trenton’s water has met all standards since December 2018, with no exceedances in a year. The New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection issued TWW eight violations in 2019, all but one being an administrative issue unrelated to water quality. It is the fewest number of violations received by TWW since 2016.
Trenton Water Works’ filtration plant on Route 29 South.,
