Over the past year, the drinking water crisis in Flint, Michigan, has elevated our nation’s awareness surrounding the importance of infrastructure and access to safe drinking water.
Though lead contamination has not been an issue here at the Old Bridge Municipal Utilities Authority (OBMUA), parents, children and elected officials are right to exercise great caution when it comes to their health and well-being.
Here at the OBMUA, we take no greater pride than providing comfort to our residents with the quality assurance of safe and affordable drinking water at all times.
We know that an event such as the one in Flint could occur at any moment, and we take proactive measures to ensure our drinking water here at home is both safe and sound. As a result, OBMUA’s drinking water quality has exceeded both state and federal standards for safety throughout the past couple of years, while also upgrading and expanding our system to ensure a more than adequate water supply, even in times of low water supply throughout the region and neighboring communities.
We believe infrastructure to be the most important aspect of providing safe drinking water to communities. At the OBMUA, we have adopted a five-year capital improvement plan and a 20-year capital improvement plan, which should ensure that all critical needs for our water system are addressed proactively, rather than reactively to emergencies.
One project in our capital improvement plan that has recently been completed is the upgrading of our 10-million-gallon water storage tank on Perrine Road, thus continually addressing our safety and infrastructure needs. The OBMUA has also upgraded our drinking water treatment plants at Pine Street and Throckmorton Lane within the past five years. That work included replacing aeration treatment process units, new booster pumps, new water-quality analyzers, clarifier upgrades, chemical feed upgrades and new emergency backup power generators.
Recently, the OBMUA has also updated its computerized water distribution and sewage-collection control systems. They have been updated to a new, state-of-the-art, computerized control system allowing us to supervise and control the entire water and sewerage systems from centralized control centers.
We are committed to ensuring the safety of drinking water and sewage collection for all Old Bridge residents for years to come. Please visit our website at www.obmua.com for further information concerning the OBMUA, or to contact us with any of your questions. Also, “like” us on our Facebook page at Old Bridge Municipal Utilities Authority.
Arthur Haney
Chairman
Old Bridge Municipal Utilities Authority
Old Bridge