Archives: MPWC Updates

Monitoring and Reporting Requirements Not Met for the Merchantville Pennsauken Water Commission

Our water system violated drinking water requirements over the past year. Even though it is not an emergency, as our customers, you have a right to know what happened and what we did to correct the situation.

For more information, please contact Richard Spafford at 856-663-0043 or 6751 Westfield Avenue in Pennsauken, NJ.

We are required to monitor your drinking water for specific contaminants on a regular basis. Results of regular monitoring are an indicator of whether our drinking water meets health standards. During the first quarter of 2024, we sampled for Total Trihalomethanes and Halocetic Acids in March instead of February as required. We completed all four quarterly monitoring tests; however the samples were taken late and the results were submitted to the State late.

The table below lists the contaminant(s) we did not properly monitor and report during the last year, how often and when we are supposed to sample, how many samples we are required to collect, how many samples we took, and if applicable, the date on which follow-up samples were (or will be) taken.

Analyte	Required sampling frequency or sampling period	Number of samples required	Number of samples collected	When samples were taken
TTHMs	February	4	4	March
HAA5	February	4	4	March

What should I do?

There is nothing you need to do. All water tests came back below NJDEP standards.

However, if you have specific health concerns, a severely compromised immune system, have an infant, are pregnant, or are elderly, you may be at higher risk than other individuals and should seek advice from your health care providers about drinking this water.

What is being done?

The quarterly sample was collected but was collected in March instead of February of 2024. All compliance schedules are being followed.

For more information, please contact Richard Spafford at 856-663-0043 or 6751 Westfield Avenue, Pennsauken, NJ.

*Please share this information with all the other people who drink this water, especially those who may not have received this notice directly (for example, people in apartments, nursing homes, schools, and businesses). You can do this by posting this notice in a public place or distributing copies by hand or mail.*

This notice is being sent to you by the Merchantville Pennsauken Water Commission, Water System ID#: NJ0424001.

We are pleased to report that during the past year, the water delivered to your home or business complied with or exceeded all state and federal drinking water requirements.

Once again we proudly present our annual Consumer Confidence Report. This edition covers all testing completed from January through December 2024. Our compliance with all state and federal drinking water laws remains exemplary. As always, we are committed to delivering the best quality drinking water. We remain vigilant in meeting the challenges of source water protection, water conservation, and community education while continuing to serve the needs of all our water users.

The MPWC has attained a special designation from the NJ Department of Labor and Workforce Development that highlights the organization’s commitment to creating a safe working environment for its staff.  

The Public Employees Occupational Safety and Health (PEOSH) On-Site Consultation and Training program provides free consulting and training to public entities and helps provide a safer work environment.  Through the program, consultants assess safety management systems, identify hazards and provide training to public employers, which in turn assists in preventing accidents, injuries and fatalities.  Having been accepted into the Safety & Health Achievement Recognition Program (SHARP), the MPWC is the first public utility to earn this achievement in over a decade. 

In order to join SHARP, the MPWC needed to meet the program’s eligibility requirements, complete a full-service safety and health visit from the On-site Consultation Program, correct any identified hazards, have a safety and health management system with employee participation, and enact an action plan to improve their safety and health program.  

“This accomplishment was years in the making and was only possible through the dedication of our Safety Coordinator, Sean Fitzgerald, as well as the complete buy-in of our staff from top to bottom,” said Joe Scavuzzo, MPWC Commission President.  “We at the Merchantville-Pennsauken Water Commission remain committed to maintain the highest level of safety for all of our facilities.  Our people deserve nothing less.” 

New Jersey Assembly Bill 5343 requires all water systems to inventory and replace lead and galvanized service lines.  While the majority of our lines are copper, we are required to provide to the state of New Jersey, an accurate inventory of the various service line types on the customer-owned portion of the service for our entire service area.  

While many of our customers have already responded, there are a significant number of unidentified service lines.  Over the past several years, the MPWC has sent multiple mailings, left door hangers, and even gone door-to-door in an effort to complete our inventory.  

The State of New Jersey requires, by law, that any service line that has the possibility of containing lead be replaced due to the dangers of lead in drinking water.  The MPWC continues to reach out to our rate payers that have lead, galvanized or other non-conforming water service lines from the curb into the house so that we may coordinate for their replacement.

The replacement of these services is very important to the public health of our customers. Be advised that the MPWC will begin initiating service terminations for customers who have not complied with the service line identification and replacement requests.  

If you have not responded, or if you are unsure if the MPWC has inventoried your property, please contact our office at your earliest convenience to avoid service termination and to take advantage of this limited-time offer for our RESIDENTIAL customers to have your service replaced at no cost to you.  

With this offer, the MPWC will replace your service line with new copper piping from the curb into the house, but you must contact us immediately to avoid service interruption and to be scheduled for replacement before this offer expires.

If the MPWC terminates your service for non-compliance, your account will be subject to additional fees.  

View our latest bids/notices here.