The New Jersey Water Association (NJWA) is a statewide association that
offers membership to all water and wastewater utilities in New Jersey.
NJWA also offers associate membership to engineers, manufacturers, suppliers,
contractors, accountants, attorneys, and other individuals or entities active in
the water and wastewater industries. Our office is located
in Waretown, New Jersey about 30
minutes from Long Beach Island and 45 minutes from the
boardwalk in Atlantic City. The NJWATER staff covers the entire
state to provide on-site technical assistance with Consumer Confidence
Reports (CCR), equipment demonstations,groundwater protection planning and
educational outreach to schools. The NJWA is governed by a board of
directors comprised of nine members elected to staggered three-year terms by the
voting membership and an associate advisor elected annually by the associate
members. The New Jersey Water Association, created by leaders from New
Jersey drinking water industries have been providing training, technical
assistance, advocacy, and a variety of other services and benefits to water
districts, wastewater,boroughs, water associations, and municipalities under
10,000 in population.
As an affiliate of the National Rural Water Association (NRWA). NRWA is a federation
of forty-six state rural water associations that represent over 22,000 water and
wastewater utilities throughout the continental United States. NJWA's
basic training and technical assistance services are provided to all utilities
that request help, regardless of membership status. Over the past nine
years, the New Jersey Water Association staff has developed a reputation for
possessing a wide range of practical and technical knowledge, displaying
professionalism, and exhibiting genuine care and concern through its work with
utility decision makers, managers, operators, and other personnel.
Funding for training and technical assistance programs comes in large part
from NRWA-administered grants from the U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency (EPA) and the United States Department
of Agriculture, Rural Development (RD). A portion of the EPA monies is used to provide a
variety of professional classroom training opportunities to utility decision
makers, managers, operators, and others. These training seminars, conducted at
locations throughout the state, offer continuing education credit hours toward
the state's water and wastewater operator certification program
requirements.
The balance of these federal funds is used to provide technical assistance.
These technical assistance programs are performed by a group of trained
professionals using a "circuit rider" approach. NJWA field staff travel the
state, normally in response to a system request, providing on-site training and
technical assistance on virtually every aspect of utility administration,
operation, and/or management. Typical areas of assistance include: leak
detection, treatment plant analysis, regulatory interpretation,
trouble-shooting, one-on-one tutoring, utility rate analysis, etc. Our federally
funded field staff includes: two Water Circuit Riders, one Wastewater
Technicians, Groundwater Technician, Sourcewater Technician and Training
Specialist.