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Newark Water Supply

•  The late 1800s was a period of rapid industrialization and urbanization throughout the United States.

•  Newark was a major industrial center of New Jersey then, as it is today. Public officials found the increased population and manufacturing to be a formidable challenge.

•  In particular, public officials had to figure out how to supply the city with fresh drinking water, and at the same time, provide outlets for household and industrial waste.

The Story of The City of Newark's Water Supply

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Miasma Theory

“Bad Air”

Germ Theory Verified: 1870’s

Scientists Louis Pasteur, Robert Koch and Joseph Lister verify the Germ Theory of Disease, which states that microorganisms are responsible for the transmission of disease.

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•  In the late 1800’s, the City of Newark’s Water Supply is drawn from in intake on the Passaic River

•  In 1866, a mass cholera epidemic forced the City of Newark to find an alternative water source other than the Passaic River, which was becoming more and more polluted.

Newark Water Supply History

•  In 1891, the Pequannock Aqueducts began supplying water to the City from the Pequannock Watershed.

•  Severe weather led to the cholera and dysentery outbreak in 1899, when the City was forced to supplement with Passaic River water.

Pequannock Aqueducts Opened in 1891

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Waterborne Illness

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Sodium Silicate •  Sodium silicates are one of the solutions recognized by the EPA to

reduce lead, copper, and other heavy metals in drinking water. •  They function as a corrosion inhibitor to form a microscopic film on the

inside of water supply pipes, preventing the leaching of lead solders and other metals through-out the system.

•  Unlike other corrosion inhibitors, sodium silicate adds no phosphate or zinc to the water supply.

•  Also, when compared to phosphate-based corrosion inhibitors, sodium silicates have a beneficial effect on pH. Added in the proper amount, sodium silicate can raise system pH into the alkaline range– another EPA-recommended way to lower lead levels in a municipal water system.

•  Acidic (pH < 7) and very soft water tends to dissolve more lead than water with a pH in the 8 to 10 range, which sodium silicate can help to maintain.

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•  Began Delivering Water in 1930

•  Plant Constructed in 1982

•  Draws Water From The Wanaque Watershed (94.4 sq. mi.)

•  Utilizes Conventional Treatment

•  210 MGD Max Flow Rate

•  Blended Ortho Phosphate For Corrosion Control

Orthophosphate

•  In public water systems, orthophosphates are used for lead and copper corrosion-control purposes.

•  Orthophosphates chemically react with lead and copper atoms that have leached off of piping and have entered into the surrounding water. This chemical reaction of orthophosphates with lead and copper atoms forms lead and copper phosphate.

•  The lead and copper phosphate is then electrochemically drawn back down onto the piping surface, where it forms a tough, water-resistant coating on the piping.

•  This tough, water-resistant coating helps prevent further leaching off of lead and copper atoms into the surrounding water.

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Parameter City of Newark Pequannock

System North Jersey District Water

Supply Montville Township Water

Utility

Alkalinity 31 mg/l 41.8 mg/l 192 mg/l

Chloride 34 mg/l 74 mg/l 66.4 mg/l

Hardness 50.2 mg/l 71.5 mg/l 323 mg/l

Calcium 18.1 mg/l 19.6 mg/l 85.5 mg/l

Total Dissolved Solids 119 mg/l 198 mg/l 487 mg/l

Iron 0.011 mg/l 0.0122 mg/l <0.02 mg/l

Manganese 0.02 mg/l <0.002 mg/l 0.006 mg/l

Color 4 CU 2 CU <2 CU

pH 8.03 8.31 7.1

Lead 0.009 mg/l 0.0193 mg/l 0.0071 mg/l

Copper 0.082 0.22 mg/l 0.241 mg/l