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Do you know what happens to your sewage once it goes down the drain?

If you live in a town with municipal wastewater treatment facilities, you'd probably say it gets treated before being released back into local waterways.

But that's not always the case.

Today's sewer systems are often structured with two separate pipes: one to carry your sewage directly to the treatment plant and another to carry stormwater runoff to waterways. 1

The Jersey Water Works 2026 Annual Conference is where water utility leaders, community advocates, and policymakers turn complex water infrastructure challenges into equitable opportunities. Grounded in our collective mission of shared actions, this year’s convening focuses on navigating critical regulatory shifts—including aggressive lead service line replacements, new PFAS regulations, and aging combined sewer overflows.

Join over 250 state and local leaders, practitioners, and stakeholders to address the urgent need for investment in New Jersey’s water systems, connect with peers to explore solutions, and recognize the collective efforts advancing our state.

Education is essential to helping people understand how stormwater moves through a community, but effective education requires more than presenting technically accurate information. Information should be relevant to the audience, grounded in familiar examples, and clear about why the information matters. In the Rahway River Watershed, that means helping municipal leaders, residents, and community partners understand how local decisions affect flooding, water quality, and the health of the watershed.

EAST ORANGE, NJ — East Orange was represented in a broader statewide conversation on drinking-water safety as the NAACP Oranges & Maplewood Branch brought together water utility professionals, environmental advocates, state regulators and community leaders for “The State of Safe Drinking Water in NJ Conference” at Seton Hall University. Among the participants was Odell Rolling, supervisor of Water Repairs for the East Orange Water Commission, who joined water professionals from other New Jersey communities and organizations to discuss lead service lines, PFAS “forever chemicals,” aging infrastructure, water affordability and public accountability.

Jersey Water Works said Aug. 6 that the Lead Service Line Implementation Workgroup received an official resolution from the New Jersey Senate & General Assembly in recognition of the group’s policy innovation and leadership in water infrastructure safety.

In April, the Stormwater Utility Subcommittee reviewed summaries of twelve stormwater utility (dedicated user fee funding) feasibility studies funded by the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (NJDEP) through their Stormwater Utility Feasibility Study Technical Assistance Program. Three of these projects resulted in the adoption of an active stormwater utility (Maplewood, New Brunswick, and Raritan Township in Hunterdon County). Dan Van Abs, a retired Rutgers University professor, highlighted key aspects of the reports as they explore fee-based stormwater management solutions. The studies covered a wide range of geographic areas, from mostly rural to fully urbanized. A key point is that the municipalities developed an impervious area based user fee structure and investigated diverse ways to use stormwater fees, from funding only capital projects to funding all municipal stormwater operations.

The Jersey Water Works Lead Service Line Implementation Workgroup received an award from the Lead Service Line Replacement Collaborative.

The group was honored in the Policy Innovation and Leadership category for its leadership and significant contributions to advancing lead service line replacement.

National experts in water infrastructure convened in Washington, D.C. to celebrate and honor innovation and leadership in Lead Service Line Replacement Initiatives. New Jersey’s group, the Jersey Water Works Lead Service Line Implementation Workgroup, received an award for its work in advancing Lead Service Line Replacement.

How do we know if New Jersey is making progress in transforming water infrastructure? Since 2013, Jersey Water Works has been convening multiple stakeholders across the water sector with the common purpose of transforming and upgrading the water infrastructure. To track progress and enable continuous learning, Jersey WaterCheck (JWC), the data dashboard Jersey Water Works, was created to highlight New Jersey’s water infrastructure needs and promote investment in related priorities.

The New Jersey Urban Mayors Association published the Spring 2026 Urban Mayors Press, which features the article, “New Jersey Can’t Wait 40 Years to Fix Sewage Overflows.” Co-written by the JWW CSO Committee and Sewage-Free Streets and Rivers campaign, the article provides combined sewer overflow municipalities and wastewater utilities with high-level recommendations to address generational equity issues.