A Shocking Risk
DEP Steps In to Triage the Central Pumping Station
If the filtration plant is the heart of Trenton Water Works, the Central Pumping Station is its pulse. But as the Comprehensive Performance Evaluation (CPE) warned earlier this year, the pulse is weak — plagued by electrical brownouts, aging infrastructure, and no built-in redundancy.
According to the CPE, “the plant suffers from somewhat frequent electrical brownouts… causing complete plant shutdowns.” These brief but system-wide outages were described as manageable only because of one thing: the Pennington Reservoir, which acts as a 78-million-gallon buffer to keep taps flowing when the plant goes dark. The report warned that once Pennington is taken offline for replacement, “that will likely not be feasible… The electrical inadequacies must be addressed before that time to avoid loss of service to the entire TWW system.”
Now, in an October 3rd letter to Director Sean Semple, DEP made clear it shares that concern. The agency’s engineers visited the CPS in September and found enough risk to warrant emergency attention.
“Given the aging infrastructure and history of brownouts of this critical component,” wrote Environmental Engineer Joseph McNally, “the CPS poses a significant risk of failure.”
To respond, DEP is sending in direct technical assistance from its New Jersey Technical Assistance Program (NJTAP) pool of engineers to develop a short-term plan for triage and stabilization. This work will be “distinct from the Electrical 360 evaluation” previously done at the filtration plant — meaning the Department is treating the CPS as a separate and urgent crisis point.
In plain terms: the State is stepping in to help keep the pumps running until a new station can be built.
Why This Matters
Every drop of treated water leaving the filtration plant for the suburbs must pass through the Central Pumping Station on its way to customers in Ewing, Lawrence, Hamilton, Hopewell, and part of Trenton. If the electrical systems at CPS fail for an extended period, the entire regional system could go dry.
That’s why the DEP’s intervention is both reassuring and alarming. Reassuring because state engineers are on site and developing a fix. Alarming because a fix is still needed at all.
As the CPE put it bluntly, TWW’s continued operation has relied on “resiliency against the fairly frequent outages and shutdowns at the treatment plant.” With that safety net about to disappear, the Central Pumping Station’s reliability is no longer a technical detail — it’s the difference between normalcy and crisis.
Looking Ahead
DEP’s letter asks for “TWW’s full cooperation” in granting physical access to the site, records, and staff under the Unilateral Administrative Order. The goal: “short-term upgrades and repairs to enhance system resiliency until the new CPS is constructed and operational.”
That’s the right focus. But given how many of DEP’s past warnings have gone unanswered until failure forced action — from travel screens to roof leaks to electrical brownouts — the public deserves regular updates on this latest intervention.
Until the new pumping station is built, Trenton Water Works will be running on borrowed time — and borrowed power.
Let’s not let the reservoir go before the new water storage places are running
TWW is a CLUSTERFUCK