VOORHEES, NJ, Feb. 8, 2012 -- New Jersey American Water is installing solar arrays at two of its water filtration facilities, enabling the company to become more cost efficient and reduce the carbon footprint needed to deliver water to its customers' taps.
At its Delaware River Regional Water Treatment Plant in Delran (DRRWTP), and at its Mansfield well station in Burlington County, New Jersey American Water is constructing a total of nearly 7,000 solar panels which will produce more than 2.2 million kilowatt hours each year in energy offsetting production costs.
On a parcel of land at the DRRWTP -- which treats and distributes water to customers in Burlington, Camden, and Gloucester Counties -- New Jersey American Water and its contractor ENERActive Solutions of Asbury Park have designed and are building a solar field of 3,565 panels. This installation will produce nearly 1.2 million kilowatt hours per year. The $7.7 million project will be complete in April 2012.
Simultaneously in Mansfield, New Jersey American Water and ENERActive have begun a $7.1 million project to erect 3,290 solar panels that will produce more than one million kilowatt hours of power per year. The solar field will go into service in June 2012.
"As a company that cares about water, our most essential natural resource, it makes sense from an environmental and economic standpoint to use our most abundant natural resource to power our treatment and distribution facilities," said Suzanne Chiavari, New Jersey American Water's vice president of engineering. "Over the past several years, we have become more reliant on solar power to make our operations more cost efficient and to reduce our carbon footprint."
New Jersey American Water's solar projects have gained much recognition over the past year; most notably for its floating solar array on a reservoir at the company's Canoe Brook Water Treatment Plant in Short Hills, NJ. The array is the first of its kind on the East Coast built to withstand a freeze/thaw environment.
The company's first solar project was at its Canal Road Water Treatment Plant in Somerset. This installation is one of the largest ground-mounted solar arrays on the East Coast and generates nearly 20 percent of the plant's power. Last summer, New Jersey American Water added a 150-kilowatt solar field to a well station in Farmingdale. In fall 2010, New Jersey American Water installed "solar bee" mixers in Reservoir No. 1 at its Canoe Brook Water Treatment Plant in Short Hills NJ. The "bees" constantly circulate water in the reservoir to improve water quality.
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