Salem City’s water system now runs through a brand-new $21.3 million filtration plant built to strip out PFAS, the so-called forever chemicals that had put the city out of compliance with state drinking water standards. New Jersey American Water and city officials marked the completion of the project this week, capping an 18-month buildout that began with a groundbreaking in spring 2025.
The new system uses granular activated carbon technology spread across six treatment vessels arranged in three separate trains, according to New Jersey American Water. It can treat up to 2 million gallons of water per day, serving not just the city of Salem but portions of Quinton, Elsinboro and Mannington townships. ROI-NJ reported that the project also folded in a new treatment building, a backwash equalization tank, and fire protection and security upgrades at the Salem Water Treatment Plant.
A Water System That Wasn’t Meeting the Standard
The urgency behind the project traces back to problems New Jersey American Water inherited when it acquired Salem’s water and wastewater systems in June 2024. At that point, the company says, the system was not meeting applicable drinking water regulations for PFAS. The company responded by fast-tracking design and construction of a permanent treatment solution while also tackling broader plant improvements, per the same amwater.com release.
That noncompliance had roots in a specific violation years earlier. The City of Salem Water System violated a New Jersey drinking water standard for PFNA in the third quarter of 2022, according to a company notice posted on amwater.com. In the meantime, New Jersey American Water installed and permitted temporary treatment for PFAS at Well No. 2, and by April 2025 told customers that the water being provided met state and federal water quality standards even as the permanent system was still under construction, the same notice states.
Officials Celebrate a Years-Long Fix
Mark McDonough, president of New Jersey American Water and senior vice president of American Water, said the project delivered on the company’s commitment to Salem. “The company recognized the urgency of Salem’s water-quality needs and the investment needed for a permanent solution,” McDonough said, according to the newsroom.amwater.com announcement. He added that investment in Salem’s infrastructure, people and partnerships will continue…