New Jersey Water Coalition Briefing: Tackling Infrastructure & ‘Forever Chemicals’ in Ridgewood
photos courtesy of the Village Manager Keith Kazmark
RIDGEWOOD, NJ — Clean, safe, and sustainable drinking water remains a top priority across the Garden State. To address the future of local utility management, Ridgewood Water recently hosted a pivotal briefing for the Drinking Water Coalition of New Jersey right here in the Village.
The high-profile event brought together local water providers, infrastructure experts, and state policymakers to participate in a robust, collaborative question-and-answer session on upcoming environmental standards and state legislative priorities.
Welcoming NJ’s New BPU Commissioners
The briefing served as an introduction to newly appointed New Jersey Board of Public Utilities (BPU) Commissioners Emma Rebhorn and Joseph Coviello.
In their address to attendees, the Commissioners outlined their primary regulatory agendas, focusing heavily on:
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Proposed State Legislation: Modernizing rules governing public utilities and funding allocations.
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Conservation Initiatives: Incentivizing smarter water usage and safeguarding the state’s finite natural resources.
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Infrastructure Investment: Streamlining projects to enhance water quality across municipal systems.
A special thanks goes out to Ridgewood Water Director Richard Calbi Jr. for successfully organizing this crucial conversation and keeping our local communities at the forefront of the state-wide policy dialogue.
Understanding the Ridgewood Water Service Area
For residents wondering how these high-level discussions impact their household taps, it helps to understand the scale of our local utility. Governed by the Ridgewood Village Council, Ridgewood Water supplies clean groundwater from the Brunswick Aquifer to an estimated population of over 61,000.
The utility’s primary municipal service area spans four major Bergen County communities:
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Village of Ridgewood
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Borough of Glen Rock
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Borough of Midland Park
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Township of Wyckoff
The Battle Against PFAS: How Ridgewood is Fighting ‘Forever Chemicals’
Beyond standard infrastructure, the most urgent topic underlying New Jersey water management is the ongoing challenge of PFAS (per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances)—commonly referred to as “forever chemicals.”
Like many municipal water providers drawing from groundwater systems in industrial regions, Ridgewood Water has faced elevated levels of PFOA and PFOS that exceed strict New Jersey state Maximum Contaminant Levels (MCLs). Because these man-made chemicals do not break down naturally in the environment or the human body, proactive remediation is crucial to prevent long-term health risks.
What is Being Done?
Ridgewood Water is aggressively implementing its PFAS Master Treatment Plan to bring the system into full compliance. The system is undergoing a massive redesign to consolidate 31 older treatment plants into 12 state-of-the-art PFAS Treatment Facilities.
According to recent utility updates, the construction schedule is moving rapidly:
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Multiple advanced filtration facilities are already online and treating water.
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The remaining treatment facilities are either actively under construction or navigating final engineering and permitting phases.
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The utility aims to have all 12 specialized PFAS filtration facilities fully operational to secure a clean, non-detectable water supply for all four service municipalities.
Local briefings like the Drinking Water Coalition meeting ensure that Ridgewood continues to collaborate closely with the BPU and the NJDEP to secure state-level funding—ensuring that the financial burden of cleaning up industrial pollution doesn’t fall solely on local ratepayers.
But two question remains, “When can we water our lawns?” and more importantly “When can we drink the water?”
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#RidgewoodNJ#NewJerseyNews#CleanWater#PFAS#ForeverChemicals#BergenCounty#LocalGovernment#EnvironmentalPolicy
It is very impressive of the system, hopefully it works well, hopefully it improves the quality of the water. A lot of maintenance I see is involved a lot, of up keep.