Hoboken, New Jersey, residents are no strangers to frequent water main problems.
The city regularly experiences water main breaks, low water pressure from their pipes, and discolored water. On 8 November 2022, reports of a water main break on one of the city’s streets, Clinton Street, prompted city residents to wonder what the city officials were doing about the problem.
Hoboken’s website says that the city owns its drinking water infrastructure system that provides water transmission and distribution services to its 55,000+ residents and commercial and industrial establishments. The city has 41 miles of water main in the system. Most of the pipes are old, ranging between one hundred and older. A few sections of the pipe were recently installed in 2021.
Tap into Hoboken reports that the cause of the water main break in Clinton Street is the road construction happening on the street section, but water services were restored within an hour of the break, according to the online newspaper.
City officials explained in an email why the city has many water main problems. According to the email, aside from the old water lines nearing the end of their useful life, some are made of cast irons that have become brittle and can easily burst from temperature changes, pressure fluctuations, or vibration.
In 1994, the city sold the rights to its water system in a 30-year deal with United Water, now Veolia. Veolia bought the rights for $13.2 million. The company made around $240 million during the three decades that it managed the system, but only $350,000 per year was invested in the infrastructure, and only 5% of the system was upgraded.
But things started to change in May 2019. SUEZ, a water and wastewater treatment company, entered a contract with the city and invested at least $33 million in water infrastructure upgrades through 2034. The investment is more than six times compared to what the city is getting from the previous deal. In 2022, SUEZ merged with Veolia.
In 2019, Mayor Ravi S. Bhalla praised the new contract with SUEZ, saying it is an “unprecedented investment in Hoboken’s water system.”
“Hoboken has been suffering for years with increasing water main breaks due to a previous, woefully inadequate contract providing no proactive water main upgrades. The renegotiated agreement will finally allow Hoboken to make the critical upgrades to our water infrastructure that have been badly needed for years. I am hopeful the Council will agree and vote in support at Wednesday’s Council meeting.”
The restructured agreement with SUEZ established a new public water utility in July 2019 and put in an average of $2.2 million in water investments per year for the city. Under the new contract, the city installed a smart technology costing $2 million to monitor water consumption, to save Hoboken residents from costly leaks.
The Hoboken city website said that the 2019 restructured agreement with SUEZ resulted in fewer water main breaks, increasing residents’ quality of life.
According to the city’s website, this year, 2023, the city will implement Phase 2 of its water infrastructure upgrades, including upgrading water infrastructure in six locations, installing new water mains, service lines, service lines, curb-to-curb resurfacing, and completing street improvements.
Many communities in the US still struggle with the ability to maintain their water infrastructure. Aging water and wastewater infrastructure is a top concern of water utility workers in the country.
Infrastructure repairs, upgrades, and replacements are very costly, and money is a limited resource leaving local officials and decision-makers facing tough decisions about where and how to allocate investments.
In the US, there are various funds and loans that local governments could tap into to help fix the water infrastructure problems. It needs to be targeted to optimize investments and ensure it goes to the most cost-effective, sustainable solution to mitigate the highest risks.
Renewing and replacing public water infrastructure is an ongoing task in which the practice of Asset Management can help utilities and local governments maximize the value of their capital and the money that goes into its operations and maintenance.
The EPA suggests how Asset Management can guide investment decisions, “Asset management provides utility managers and decision-makers with critical information on capital assets and timing of investments. Some key steps for asset management are making an inventory of critical assets, evaluating their condition and performance, and developing plans to maintain, repair, and replace assets and to fund these activities.”
Sources:
Mayor Bhalla Announces New Contract With Suez For Water Main Operations. (2019, April 12). Hoboken City Hall. https://www.hobokennj.gov/news/mayor-bhalla-announces-new-contract-with-suez-for-water-main-operations
Reid, E. (2022, November 9). Why Does Hoboken Have so Many Water Main Problems and What is the City Doing About it? Tap Into Hoboken. https://www.tapinto.net/towns/hoboken/sections/green/articles/why-does-hoboken-have-so-many-water-main-problems-and-what-is-the-city-doing-about-it
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