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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.