FREEHOLD – Officials in Freehold Borough are taking action through a municipal utility geographic information system (GIS) to ensure the borough’s water system remains in compliance with state statutes.
Engineer Brian Dougherty of the firm Mott MacDonald appeared before the Borough Council during a recent meeting to give a presentation on the state’s Water Quality Accountability Act (WQAA). Dougherty said Freehold Borough is in compliance with the act and is taking steps to maintain compliance.
According to Dougherty, the WQAA addresses maintenance requirements for valves and hydrants, record keeping for maintenance activities, mitigation plans for New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) violations, and the municipality’s asset management plan.
An annual submission stating compliance with the WQAA is required as certification. The statement must certify the community’s compliance with federal safe drinking water regulations, state safe drinking water regulations, licensing requirements for operators, conditions of allocation permit and WQAA conditions.
Valve inspection and maintenance requirements under the WQAA are to inspect and test valves 12 inches and larger every two years, to inspect and test valves smaller than 12 inches every four years, to locate and map all valves with GPS beginning this year, and to repair and replace all inoperable valves beginning this year.
Hydrant inspection and maintenance requirements are to test all hydrants annually, to locate and map all hydrants with GPS this year, and to label hydrants this year, according to Dougherty, who said the borough is in compliance.
A formal asset management plan and testing and exercising of the large valves (12 inches and larger) are currently in progress. After the GIS is fully deployed, the formal asset management plan will be developed, Dougherty said.
Council members authorized Mott MacDonald to develop the GIS in late 2017.
“GIS is an efficient tool for making informed real-time decisions, regulatory compliance reporting and future planning,” Dougherty said.
