NJ DEP's first 'Our Water's Worth It' award goes to Ridgewood Water. See why

RIDGEWOOD — The state Department of Environmental Protection's first "Our Water's Worth It" award goes to Ridgewood Water for its long-term efforts to conserve water and protect public health.

The state agency launched the award earlier this year to honor public and private water systems that "set a good example by going above and beyond to protect water resources and improve drinking water quality, service and reliability for the residents they serve," said DEP Commissioner Shawn LaTourette.

Ridgewood Water oversees service from its 31 treatment plants to an estimated 62,000 customers in the village, Midland Park, Glen Rock and Wyckoff.

“I am honored to have Ridgewood Water recognized as the first recipient of this award and look forward to continuing our work with NJDEP to protect this vital resource by watering wisely," said Ridgewood Water Director Richard Calbi.

Ridgewood Water's efforts stretch back to 2017 when it adopted a permanent stage 2, two-day per week limit on lawn watering ordinance for the municipalities it serves, reducing its water use by 20% by 2020.

“Drinking water is worth much more than the dollar amount on our water bills, and to waste it on excessive lawn watering is only going to drive the cost higher," Calbi said.

Last month, Calbi warned it was "imminent" that the department's permanent stage 2 restrictions would be elevated to stage 3, banning all lawn watering , if water storage tank levels fall below 50% due to the state's continuing heat wave and low precipitation levels. The ban would preserve drinking water and maintain pressure and supply to hydrants for firefighting purposes, Calbi said.

"Clean, safe drinking water is the mission of Ridgewood Water," Mayor Paul Vagianos said. "We work hard every day to ensure that our supply of this precious, limited resource is always there for our residents who rely on us to provide it to them."

The water department broke ground last August on a $3.9 million treatment plant at its Goffle Road facility to help minimize levels of a group of chemicals called PFAS or "forever chemicals" in its four-town service area. It is scheduled for completion in February 2025 and is the third of 12 treatment plants scheduled to be built or upgraded by 2026.

Calbi said the ground was also broken this year on the Ames, East Ridgewood and West End treatment facilities. Five other facilities at Wortendyke, Cedar Hill, Eastside, Main and Mountain are either out for bid or in the final design stage. Construction on all of the facilities is expected to be completed by the end of 2026, with the majority completed in 2025.

"Ridgewood Water is on target to reach nondetectable levels of all regulated compounds by 2026, three years ahead of the Environmental Protection Agency deadline," Calbi said.

Meanwhile, Calbi said the department is buying water with low contaminant levels from Passaic Valley Water Commission and Veolia Water to supplement water from its least contaminated wells.

The department filed suit in 2019 against companies it claims had knowingly produced chemicals "very likely" to contaminate surface water and groundwater via non-stick cookware, metal plating and firefighting products. Those companies included 3M Company, DuPont and Company, The Chemours Company, Honeywell International Inc. (successor-in-interest to Allied Chemical Corp.), Tyco Fire Products LP, Chemguard Inc. and Buckeye Fire Equipment Company.

For more information visit dep.nj.gov/ourwatersworthit .

This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: NJ DEP's first 'Our Water's Worth It' award goes to Ridgewood Water. See why