Spotswood, E. Bruns.

Spotswood, E. Bruns.

reach water agreement

BY VINCENT TODARO

Staff Writer

SPOTSWOOD — The borough has renewed its water agreement with neighboring East Brunswick, but hopes a costly new clause does not kick in.

Mayor Barry Zagnit, who discussed the contract during an Aug. 9 Borough Council meeting, said the deal allows Spotswood to purchase water from East Brunswick at the cost of $1,065 per one-million gallons. Spotswood only buys the water if it cannot pump enough of its own to meet demands, Zagnit told the Sentinel.

The five-year contract includes a new "ratchet" clause holding that, if Spotswood purchases more than 215,000 gallons a day for three days running or any five days in a calendar year, the clause kicks in and raises water rates by 50 percent for the next six months.

"We didn’t have one, but [East Brunswick] wanted one this time," Zagnit said, adding that the clause is one reason Spotswood has implemented an odd/even date watering schedule for residents.

The clause, he said, "can get pricey."

Spotswood is capable of pumping more of its own water than it currently does, Zagnit said, but must adhere to a limit set by the state Department of Environmental Protection. Zagnit said many other towns are also restricted on how much they can pump due to environmental laws.

The clause will not be invoked if the higher usage is the result of an emergency such as a water pipe break, however.

In the past, prior to an ongoing water system rehabilitation project, Spotswood would pump more from its plant than it really needed because of leaks and other problems, Zagnit said. A leak detection survey last year found 17 undiscovered leaks were making the town lose a lot of good water.

Another problem was that the valve regulating the amount of water going from East Brunswick to Spotswood was inaccurate, he said. The valve is located at the interconnect on East Main Street, and made it hard to get an accurate number of the gallons from East Brunswick. The old valve was replaced with an accurate computer-controlled one, controlled by East Brunswick.

"So, if we say 215 gallons, that’s what we get," he said.

"If we need more, we call their control system and they can change it just through the computer," he said.

At the meeting, Zagnit said that despite the warm summer, the town has not gone over its DEP limit since the valve was put in.

He added that although the borough still has what officials believe to be excessive water flow, that may be caused by an undetected water main break. He said officials were looking into that matter.