How water treatment plants work: How wastewater treatment works
New Jersey's state water board has approved a plan that would require residents to pay for a new wastewater treatment plant that would use recycled water from wastewater treatment plants across the state.
The plan, filed Thursday, would require water customers to pay at least $4 per day to buy water from the proposed wastewater treatment facility in Newark, the state Department of Environmental Protection said.
That's about $4.40 per person, plus $1 per litre of municipal waste, or $15 per day, for each household.
Agency spokeswoman Kristin O'Connor said the new facility would be a new water system that would be built by an independent contractor and installed by the end of 2019.
Water customers would pay for the wastewater treatment and distribution system and for maintenance and other expenses.
It is not known how many people could be affected.
Under the plan, which was filed on Thursday, wastewater from wastewater facilities would be pumped to a new underground storage facility that would not have to be treated and would not require the same treatment rates as the existing wastewater treatment facilities.
The existing storage facility is located in Trenton, and that facility is used to store wastewater from the city's wastewater treatment system.
State officials say the new water treatment plant will be used to provide drinking water to the city of Newark, which is about an hour away from the Newark wastewater treatment center.
It will also help reduce the amount of contaminated wastewater flowing into the city.
Ubuntu 17.10 beta 4 update: new emoji and a better notification system
How a self-driving car could be a new form of surveillance for humans