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A global environmental movement
struggles against pollution and global warming.
American Water has been a leader in championing
environmentally-friendly practices. Recently, the
company’s Applied Water Management Group designed
and now operates the water recycling system at The
Solaire Building in New York City’s Battery Park.
The Solaire consumes 67 percent less energy at peak
demand than similarly-constructed “non-green”
buildings. It uses a water recycling system that
includes multiple filters and conserves nearly nine
million gallons of water per year.
American Water’s New Jersey subsidiary has become
more environmentally-friendly through its
implementation of “green” practices and procedures.
“I think the company’s done a great job pursuing
environmentally friendly practices,” said Bill
Pearce, Senior Environmental Engineer for New Jersey
American Water. The company’s
environmentally-friendly initiatives include:
Solar Energy. Solar panels consist of photovoltaic
cells, devices that convert sunlight to electricity.
Developed in 1950 by scientists at the former Bell
Labs (now Lucent Technologies) in Murray Hill, New
Jersey, the cells were used in the United States’
space program to power the world’s first
telecommunications satellite, Telstar I. Increased
funding for solar energy research and declining
manufacturing costs led to widespread commercial and
residential use. “Solar energy power generation is
growing 20 to 30 percent a year,” said Roberta
Gamble, an energy analyst at Frost & Sullivan, an
energy industry research firm in Palo Alto,
California.
NJAW’s Canal Road water treatment plant in Somerset, New Jersey boasts a
500-kilowatt (KW) ground-mounted solar energy array
capable of producing between 15 and 20 percent of
the total electricity consumed by the plant during
peak operating periods. The array is the largest to
be found east of the
Mississippi River
with more than 2,800 panels. “It’s really helped
offset our electric operating costs,” said Steve
Taylor, Production Supervisor for the facility. The
plant is currently expanding the solar array’s
capacity by adding 86 kilowatts (KW) to the existing
system and constructing another array atop the
plant’s filtered water concrete deck. The new array
will produce 110KW of electricity, bringing the
solar “farm’s” total potential output capacity to
nearly 700KW.
Natural Gas Vehicles. As noted in the Environmental
Protection Agency (EPA)-sponsored report
Alternative Fuels Case Study: Barwood Cab Fleet
Study Summary, the fuel economies of compressed
natural gas (CNG)- and gasoline-powered cabs were
identical while the operating costs for CNG cabs
were 25 percent less than those of their
gasoline-fueled equivalents. Average fuel costs for
CNG cabs were 32 percent less than those of gasoline
cabs. CNG vehicles generated fewer exhaust and
greenhouse gas emissions than gasoline- and
diesel-powered vehicles. Today, many cities
regularly use CNG-fueled vehicles in their mass
transit fleets.
NJAW
purchased two Honda Civic GX CNG-fueled vehicles
thorough a Princeton, New
Jersey dealership. The Environmental Protection
Agency (EPA) hails the GX as the cleanest internal
combustion vehicle available on the market. “We
believe these vehicles will help New Jersey American
Water continue its environmentally-friendly
practices,” said Gary Matthews, Environmental
Manager for New Jersey American Water. “We want to
do our part to operate in an
environmentally-friendly manner while leading the
way in reducing our dependence on fossil fuels,”
added John Bigelow, President of NJAW. The CNG cars
represent a potential cost savings as their greater
fuel efficiency requires the company to purchase and
use less fuel over the course of the cars’ useful
life.
Zero
discharge plants. Some of NJAW’s water treatment
plants, including its Swimming
River plant in Colts Neck, New
Jersey, and its Delran plant in Delran, New
Jersey also treat and recycle water while not
returning any residual waste products to the
environment during the process. These
“zero-discharge facilities” remove organic and
inorganic materials from water during the treatment
process and reprocess them for use as landfill
covers. Treated water then makes its way into the
company’s distribution system to provide NJAW
customers with high-quality water. Water returns to
the heads of the plants to reenter the treatment
process. No water is lost during its circuit through
the plant and all contaminants are constantly
removed and reused. “By reducing the amount of
chemicals used during the treatment process, we
avoid endangering our customers, we provide them
with clean water and save everyone money,” remarked
Anthony Matarazzo, NJAW’s Director of Environmental
Management and Compliance.
New
Jersey American Water’s commitment to
environmentally-responsible practices by using solar
power, natural gas vehicles and zero-discharge water
treatment plants speaks well of its employees and
the customers it serves.
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