The East Orange

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The East Orange Water Commission presented by
Mayor Lester E. Taylor III and EOWC President
Michele Antley
City of East Orange 44 City Hall Plaza, East
Orange, NJ 07018 tel [phone] mayor_at_eastoran
ge-nj.gov www.eastorange-nj.gov
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Overview of the EOWC

• Created in 1909
• Of 565 municipalities in New Jersey, East Orange
  is one of only three (3) municipalities to own
  and operate a water entity
• Services the City of East Orange, Village of
  South Orange and properties in Millburn
  (approximately 88,000 customers)
• Currently pumps up to 7 million gallons per day,
  but could pump up to 11.2 at full capacity
• East Orange Water Reserve covers 2,400 acres with
  18 (mostly artesian) wells

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Years of Neglect

• Upon being sworn in on January 1, 2014, Mayor
  Taylor was presented with a EOWC that suffered
  from
• Aging infrastructure
• Fiscal and technical mismanagement
• Misreporting of contaminant levels
• Increasing water rates
• Loss of customers
• Damaged reputation due to ethical and criminal
  misconduct by former EOWC employees

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Significant Financial Loss

• Lack of routine maintenance over more than a
  decade necessitated 10-20M in infrastructural
  improvements
• Inferior customer service and poor fiscal
  management resulted in 3M deficit
• (CY2014) Operating budget approx. 20M

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First Steps

• Removed prior Board and installed new Board of
  Commissioners
• Administration is working cooperatively with
  Board to preserve, protect and enhance East
  Oranges water supply
• Successful negotiations with NJDEP, South Orange
  Village, and Newark Water Department to reduce
  fines, improve customer service and reduce
  dependency on outside provider.

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Next Steps

• Market entity to get new subscribers
• Create jobs for residents
• Additional revenue for municipal budget
• Access to STEM education and experiential
  opportunities for students

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EOWC Governance

• Michele Antley appointed by Mayor and elected
  by Co-Commissioners as
  President
• Understanding role and responsibilities of
  Commissioners, i.e. governance vs. day-to-day
  management
• Operate asset in accordance with modern 21st
  Century practices
• Implement policy

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Current Projects

• Working on increasing the volume and quality of
  the water by approving two contracts
• Well Rehabilitation Project Phase II
• Installation of an Airstripper Device
• Air stripping is a very reliable way to remove
  volatile organic compounds from drinking water.

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Air Stripper Device
Air VOC Contaminants
VOC-Contaminated Water
Packing Media
Treated Water
Forced Air from Blower
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Air Stripper Facility Rendering
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Management and Best Practices

• After completing fair, open and competitive
  procurement process, contract was awarded to
  Veolia Water North America, one
  of the worlds leading
  water suppliers
• In first 60 days, weve already realized hundreds
  of thousands of dollars of cost savings and/or
  efficiencies to minimize cost and maximize
  productivity
• Training existing staff to expedite EOWC
  self-sufficiency

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