has strained company
BTMUA plans interim
sale to Parkway Water
Contamination in wells
has strained company’s
ability to meet demand
BY DANIELLE MEDINA
Correspondent
BRICK — The Brick Township Muni-cipal Utilities Authority (BTMUA) will begin temporarily supplying water to some Parkway Water Co. customers on Aug. 16, Executive Director Kevin Donald said at the authority’s July 26 meeting.
The interim sale of water comes as the BTMUA considers purchasing Park-way Water and its customer base of 1,800 homes and businesses. The company, based in Marlboro, serves customers in the Ramtown section of Howell, including three schools — Ramtown Elementary School, Green-ville Elementary School and Howell Middle School South.
Last year, Parkway Water customers were notified that their water supply had excess levels of radium-226 and radium-228, naturally occurring elements in the soil that can become activated by the introduction of fertilizers and lime, as well as by the movement of the soil.
Since then, Parkway Water has been providing residents in the lower section of Ramtown with water from the company’s Englishtown well. That aquifer is not contaminated, but its supply will run out on Aug. 15, BTMUA officials said.
The BTMUA will step in on Aug. 16 and provide approximately 200,000 gallons of water per day to the 500 customers in the lower section of Ramtown. The Ramtown customers will pay the BTMUA’s bulk rate for water, which is $3.13 per 1,000 gallons.
The authority will also inform its new Ramtown customers of two specific concerns regarding the chloramine additive in its water through a mailing this week. Chloramine can be toxic to fish in aquariums, as well as to patients on kidney dialysis machines. Both problems can be avoided by switching filters.
Residents in the upper section of Ramtown, including the three schools, will continue to be supplied with water from New Jersey-American Water Co. Donald said that by April, the BTMUA will have the hydraulic system in place to pump its water through the pipes to the customers in the upper section of Ramtown.
Brick Councilman Gregory Kavanagh relayed a message from council Pres-ident Stephen Acropolis saying that before the BTMUA could sell the water, the authority needed approval from the Township Council.
But BTMUA attorney John Paul Doyle pointed out that the council gave its consent to the authority to sell water to Parkway Water through a resolution it adopted in December 2003.