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Water Utility Selects New Chairman; Clyde Potts Treatment Plant to be Expanded (Feb. 13, 2002)
At its 25th Anniversary Board meeting, the members of The Southeast Morris County Municipal Utility Authority (SMCMUA) elected 25-year Morris Plains member, Robert Carroll as Chairman. Edward A. Taratko, Jr., P.E., P.P., of Morris Township moved into the Vice Chairman’s role while Adolph Schimpf, Ph.D., of Hanover Township was designated Secretary.
This will be Carroll’s fourth time as leader of Morris County’s largest public water purveyor serving 18,500 customers in Morristown, Morris Township, Morris Plains and Hanover as well as some service in Harding and Mendham Townships. “SMCMUA’s 25 years of commitment to improving water quality and customer service has been an important part of economic health of the County. When my colleagues Bob Sims of Morris Township and Al Magyar of Hanover Township and I sat down for our first meeting in 1977 with four representatives of Morristown, we knew we had a lot of difficult work ahead. I believe we have succeeded beyond anyone’s expectation,” Carroll said.
In other business, the Board awarded a contract to Killam Associates of Millburn, NJ, to prepare plans and specifications for the expansion of the Clyde Potts Reservoir Treatment Plant. According to Executive Director, Harry G. Gerken, SMCMUA has been running a 500,000-gallon a day pilot plant using membrane technology for the last several years. Killam’s design would expand the plant’s capacity to 2.5 million gallons a day. “We have extensive experience with membrane technology and the Board is convinced that expansion of the plant will further our goals of balancing both groundwater and surface water supplies. The importance of this decision can be seen especially during the current drought conditions. An additional 2 million gallons of surface water will help to rest the groundwater wells and allow them to recharge,” Gerken said.
SMCMUA’s current peak short-term capacity is 16.8 million gallons a day, including the existing 500,000 gallons from Clyde Potts. When completed, the expansion will bring the total to 18.8 million. “During the summer of 2001 we approached 14 million gallons of water day for almost a week straight. The extra capacity will not just help to rest the wells but will also provide a margin of safety for future years,” Gerken said.
The plant expansion is estimated to cost $5-$6 million with construction to begin in the fall of 2002. Completion is scheduled for the end of 2003. Killam’s design contract is $485,000.
Chairman Carroll concluded by noting that one of the first projects the SMCMUA Board tackled was the original Clyde Potts Treatment Plant. “25 years ago, New Jersey had just passed its first Safe Drinking Water Act. Water quality standards have increased dramatically since then and SMCMUA will continue its commitment to meeting and exceeding those standards.”
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