Water pressure: Battle over Trenton utility reignites fears of privatization and loss of control

Some residents are pushing back against a state regionalization plan

Over the past two decades, the Trenton Water Works has lurched from crisis to crisis while struggling to supply clean water to more than 220,000 customers in Mercer County.

State investigators have documented treatment problems, equipment failures, management disarray, and outright corruption. Human pathogens like Legionella, found breeding in Trenton’s urban reservoir, have been linked to the deaths of at least three people.

Consultants hired by the state Department of Environmental Protection reported in January that the water utility might fail altogether without new leadership, possibly in the form of a regional authority sanctioned by the state.

But a vocal contingent of Trenton residents, who say they have no real problem with the water, is pushing back. The Trentonians for Trenton Water Works Committee claims to have collected more than 4,000 signatures opposing any plan to regionalize the troubled utility.

In recent weeks, the committee has raised billboards across the city urging residents to “Stop Regionalization” and “Stop Mayor Reed Gusciora,” who was elected in 2018 on a promise to reform the water agency. The committee is also holding public meetings to win new recruits in what organizers say is a fight against “outsiders” looking to seize control of a historic asset built for and by Trentonians.

“To any parties or special interest groups who are advocating to take over the water works, we say the residents of Trenton will push back like we always have,” said Robin Vaughn, a former city councilwoman who supports the billboard campaign. “We will fight for the right to self-govern.”

Vaughn, all evidence to the contrary, rejects any suggestion that the 221-year-old water works—the oldest publicly owned utility in the U.S.—is in crisis. She says the city has the ability to borrow money for needed capital improvements and already employs enough skilled workers to manage the filtration plant and the 680-odd miles of water mains serving Trenton and four surrounding Mercer County communities.

Several engineering and financial studies released earlier this year documented serious problems at the Trenton Water Works, including management chaos, a shortage of qualified workers, and decaying filtration and distribution systems. Another study, commissioned by the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection this spring and set to stretch to 2027, is examining new governing structures for the utility.

The city has also commissioned a rate study that is expected to result in substantially higher water bills. Trenton Water currently charges about one-third the rate per gallon that private water companies charge in nearby towns in both New Jersey and Pennsylvania, Trenton officials say.

“All these alleged studies they’re doing are a complete waste—just a way for some well-connected contractor to make money,” said Vaughn, who served four years on the Trenton City Council before staging an unsuccessful campaign for mayor in 2022. “None of it matters anyway, because the people of Trenton will never allow this precious asset, our historic water works, to be taken away from us.”

A proposal backed by former Mayor Douglas Palmer to sell the water works to New Jersey American Water for $80 million failed spectacularly. Residents, voting in a 2010 referendum, rejected the proposal by a four-to-one ratio—despite a $1.2 million public relations campaign by New Jersey American Water.

Opponents of the sale argued that for-profit private firms raise rates substantially after a brief honeymoon period when rates are artificially kept low. They also pointed out that Palmer’s plan drained revenue from the water works sale to plug revenue gaps in the city of Trenton’s general budget.

“It was a real grassroots effort that succeeded because people saw it for what it was—losing control of a vital resource,” said Jim Carlucci, a former Trenton resident who helped organize the 2010 anti-privatization campaign.

Despite the referendum victory, Carlucci said, it soon became clear that Trenton was not going to take the steps necessary to invest in the water works and retain a cadre of qualified water treatment technicians. Six months after the vote, Carlucci said, concerned residents were seriously looking at the possibility of creating a municipal authority that would give the suburban communities joint control over the Trenton Water Works.

In the ensuing 15 years, the utility has continued to degenerate and miss state-imposed orders to improve treatment and upgrade the city reservoir. An order from the Department of Environmental Protection in 2022 laid out a laundry list of deficiencies that remain largely unaddressed, although there has been some progress, such as installation of a new intake system to draw water from the Delaware River and upgrades to the distribution system.

Still, officials estimate that Trenton Water needs more than $1 billion in improvements over the next decade and a half, including the completion of a long-term project to replace lead service lines.

Gusciora, in a recent interview, said the water utility is no worse off than other old, large, municipally owned systems throughout the state.

“We have problems, but we’re not the worst,” Gusciora said. “I strongly support Trenton retaining ownership. While we all acknowledge that decades of underinvestment and past inaction have raised concerns about Trenton’s stewardship, we have made meaningful progress in reversing those trends.”

Trenton Water draws about 30 million gallons a day from the Delaware River and treats it at its filtration plant on Route 29 in the shadow of the New Jersey Statehouse. From there, water is pumped to customers in Ewing, Hamilton, Lawrenceville, and Hopewell. Suburban users now comprise 55 percent of the utility’s customer base.

Those towns are promising to press for change and say that, despite the best efforts of Trentonians such as Vaughn and her group, their residents deserve better service.

“We agree that the status quo is not sustainable,” the suburban mayors said in a recent statement. “Creating a new public utility, with governance that allows for greater operational independence and collaboration across municipalities, is a necessary step forward.”