TLDR:
1. Major New Jersey water utilities are investing hundreds of millions to billions into modernizing infrastructure, replacing aging mains, and removing lead pipes.
2. Investments specifically target advanced treatment for contaminants like PFAS to ensure safe drinking water compliance.
3. Municipal-owned systems like Edison face significant challenges with aging infrastructure, highlighting the critical need for continuous capital investment.

Across New Jersey, some of the state’s largest water utilities are undertaking generational upgrades in the infrastructure responsible for delivering one of life’s most basic necessities: clean drinking water. Major investments by Middlesex Water, New Jersey American Water, Veolia and Aqua NJ are replacing aging mains, removing lead pipes and upgrading drinking-water treatment for PFAS, while at the same time many public municipal systems struggle to keep up with aging infrastructure.

For customers, much of that investment is largely invisible. Water mains, valves and service lines are buried beneath streets and front yards. Treatment technology operates behind the scenes. But collectively, these investments represent an enormous effort to modernize New Jersey’s drinking-water infrastructure. Here are some notables:

Middlesex Water launches half-billion-dollar investment plan

Middlesex Water Company reported investing $96.4 million in water and wastewater infrastructure during 2025, upgrading and replacing aging assets while improving system resiliency.The company also plans to invest approximately $506 million between 2026 and 2028, including approximately $255 million for PFAS treatment at its Carl J. Olsen water treatment plant in Edison.

Middlesex is also continuing its longstanding RENEW program, which systematically replaces aging water mains throughout its system. In 2025 alone, Middlesex replaced approximately 28,000 feet of aging water main, and the company plans to continue investing approximately $12 million annually through the program between 2026 and 2028. That work is increasingly being coordinated with Middlesex’s lead service line replacement initiative. When qualifying customer-owned lead or galvanized steel service lines are encountered, Middlesex can replace them as part of the broader infrastructure project — allowing a single construction project to accomplish multiple objectives.

The company says qualifying lines are being replaced at no direct cost to property owners, avoiding an expense Middlesex estimates could otherwise cost an individual homeowner approximately $3,000 to $5,000.

New Jersey American Water invests $781 million in a single year

The scale is even larger at New Jersey American Water. The state’s largest regulated water utility reported investing more than $781 million in New Jersey water and wastewater infrastructure during 2025, up from approximately $520 million the previous year. Those projects stretched across more than 190 communities.

Approximately $241 million went toward water mains, resulting in more than 42 miles of main being installed, replaced or rehabilitated. Another $127 million supported service-line replacements, with more than 16,000 service lines replaced during the year. New Jersey American Water also replaced hundreds of hydrants, more than 2,000 valves and invested nearly $79 million in treatment and production improvements, including PFAS-removal equipment and other advanced treatment systems.

The 2025 spending is part of a much larger infrastructure campaign. Since 2010, New Jersey American Water reports investing more than $6 billion in capital and infrastructure improvements throughout the state, including the installation or replacement of more than 1,000 miles of water main. And the investment is expected to continue.

New Jersey regulators recently approved rates supporting more than $1.4 billion in continued system upgrades, including the replacement or rehabilitation of nearly 120 miles of aging main, continued lead service line replacement and treatment improvements addressing PFAS and other emerging contaminants.

Veolia modernizes systems across 10 counties

Veolia recently cited approximately $274 million in infrastructure investment between April 2024 and March 2026 to modernize its New Jersey water and wastewater systems. Those projects span 86 municipalities in 10 counties and include new water mains, treatment-plant improvements, digital technology and lead service line removal.

Lead removal has become a particularly significant component of Veolia’s investment program. The company reports replacing more than 16,000 lead service lines in 60 New Jersey communities in recent years, with crews continuing to work throughout the state.

But the investment goes beyond lead. Veolia has deployed 12 PFAS treatment systems across New Jersey while continuing water-main replacement throughout its approximately 3,000-mile distribution network. Communities receiving improvements have included Hackensack, Englewood, Fort Lee, Teaneck, North Bergen, Union City, Toms River and Lambertville.

Aqua NJ targets lead and PFAS

Aqua New Jersey is similarly directing significant resources toward eliminating lead service lines and treating emerging contaminants. Since 2022, Aqua reports investing approximately $35 million to replace more than 2,100 lead and galvanized customer service lines across New Jersey. Its current projects include major lead-removal initiatives in Phillipsburg and Blackwood.

Aqua secured more than $12.4 million in low-interest New Jersey Infrastructure Bank financing for service-line surveys and replacements in those communities, with qualifying customer-owned lines being replaced at no direct cost to customers.

Aqua is simultaneously investing in PFAS treatment. Its $2.6 million Hamilton Well 13 treatment system uses ion-exchange technology to remove PFAS from drinking water serving more than 12,700 customers in Hamilton Township. Additional PFAS treatment systems have been installed in Hunterdon, Sussex and Warren counties.

Aqua’s infrastructure projects also demonstrate how utilities can combine improvements. One water-main replacement project, for example, included approximately 11,145 feet of aging water main while simultaneously replacing 599 lead service lines with copper. Instead of repeatedly opening the same streets, the approach allows aging mains and customer service lines to be modernized together.

Getting the lead out of New Jersey

The focus on lead is not accidental. New Jersey law requires public community water systems to replace lead and certain galvanized service lines by 2031. Progress is being made, but the scale of the job remains substantial.

As of December 2025, New Jersey water systems reported approximately 115,000 known lead or galvanized service lines statewide. Hundreds of thousands of additional service lines remained classified as having unknown materials. That creates both an infrastructure challenge and an opportunity.

Every water-main replacement project provides utilities with an opportunity to inspect service lines, eliminate lead, install modern valves and hydrants and improve the reliability of the surrounding distribution system. For New Jersey’s investor-owned water utilities, those projects are increasingly becoming part of continuous, multi-year capital programs rather than isolated repairs.

Infrastructure investment is also economic investment

The benefits extend beyond drinking water. Replacing mains and constructing treatment facilities requires engineers, equipment manufacturers, construction companies, laborers, electricians, operators and skilled trades. New Jersey American Water estimates that its $781 million of 2025 infrastructure investment supported more than 12,490 jobs statewide.

The New Jersey Water Bank has also become an important tool for accelerating investment, providing favorable financing for projects ranging from lead service line replacement to treatment improvements. The result is an infrastructure cycle in which capital investment improves water systems while simultaneously supporting construction and employment throughout the state.

Edison shows the challenge facing public water

The scale of investment underway at New Jersey’s investor-owned utilities also creates a notable comparison with government-owned water systems. Edison Township provides a particularly relevant example.

Following a 2019 referendum, Edison assumed direct municipal control of its water distribution system in 2020. Today, the Edison Water Utility serves approximately 12,000 customers, representing roughly one-third of the township. Other Edison residents receive water service from Middlesex Water and New Jersey American Water. That creates an unusual real-world comparison within a single municipality.

Middlesex Water and New Jersey American Water are carrying out extensive multi-year capital programs, while Edison Township itself is responsible for maintaining and modernizing the municipal distribution infrastructure serving its customers.

Edison’s municipal utility largely purchases treated drinking water from Middlesex Water and New Jersey American Water and distributes that water through township-controlled infrastructure. That means the municipality is responsible for maintaining the network of water mains, valves, hydrants and related equipment that carries the water to customers. Recent failures have highlighted the condition of portions of that system. A significant water-main break in December 2024 disrupted service to thousands of Edison residents and resulted in a boil-water advisory. Then, in January 2026, another major water-main break occurred beneath Route 1. Township officials said the failed pipe was at least 75 years old. The rupture disrupted traffic along one of New Jersey’s busiest transportation corridors while crews worked to isolate the break and restore service.

Individual main breaks occur in both public and privately owned water systems and are not, standing alone, proof of broader system failure. But aging pipes and emergency repairs illustrate why sustained capital replacement matters. A pipe that remains underground for 70 or 80 years may continue functioning long beyond its original expected service life. Until it doesn’t.

Planned investment versus emergency repair

The difference between planned infrastructure replacement and emergency repair can be substantial. When utilities replace mains proactively, they can coordinate projects with road reconstruction, replace valves and hydrants, inspect service lines and potentially remove lead infrastructure at the same time.

Emergency repairs offer few of those advantages. Roads may have to be closed unexpectedly. Businesses and residents can lose water service. Boil-water advisories may become necessary. Crews and equipment must be mobilized immediately. And ultimately, the old pipe still has to be replaced.

Edison has undertaken water-main improvements, leak detection and other infrastructure projects of its own. Municipal ownership itself does not mean a water system is poorly maintained. But its aging distribution network demonstrates the challenge government-owned systems face in maintaining the continuous pace of investment required for infrastructure that is largely invisible to taxpayers.

Investor-owned utilities generally operate multi-year capital programs financed through private capital and recovered through rates subject to state regulatory review. In contrast, municipal systems must make their infrastructure investments while balancing water needs against numerous other government priorities. Roads, public safety, parks, municipal buildings and other services all compete for resources. Underground infrastructure can be particularly easy to postpone because residents rarely see it.

Investment matters more than ownership

Ultimately, the lesson is not simply public water versus private water. The real distinction is between continuous infrastructure investment and deferred infrastructure investment. New Jersey American Water’s $781 million year of investment, Middlesex Water’s planned half-billion-dollar capital program, Veolia’s $274 million modernization effort and Aqua’s continuing lead and PFAS projects demonstrate what sustained capital deployment looks like. Those investments are replacing aging mains, eliminating lead service lines, installing advanced treatment technology and modernizing infrastructure before failure forces action.

Edison demonstrates why the same urgency is required in government-owned systems. A municipality may purchase high-quality treated drinking water, but that water still has to travel through the pipes beneath local streets before reaching someone’s faucet. The treatment plant matters, of course. But so does the pipe.

As New Jersey undertakes one of the most significant periods of water infrastructure investment in its history, every provider — public or private — faces the same fundamental responsibility. Customers expect clean water. They expect reliable service. And they expect the infrastructure responsible for delivering that water to be maintained before a 75-year-old pipe breaking beneath a highway becomes the reminder that investment is overdue.

Sources:

Middlesex Water Company

• Middlesex Water Company. “2025 Annual Report.”
• Middlesex Water Company. “Middlesex Water Company Reports 2025 Earnings.” News release.
• Middlesex Water Company. “Getting the Lead Out.”
• Middlesex Water Company. “RENEW Program.”

New Jersey American Water

• New Jersey American Water. “New Jersey American Water Invests Over $781 Million in 2025 Statewide Infrastructure Upgrades.” News release, Feb. 25, 2026.
• New Jersey American Water. “Rate Approval and Infrastructure Investment.” U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission filing, 2026.

Veolia New Jersey

• Veolia North America. “Veolia Requests Rate Review Following $274 Million Investment to Modernize Water Infrastructure.” Press release, Dec. 16, 2025.

Aqua New Jersey

• Aqua New Jersey. “Getting the Lead Out Across the Garden State.”
• Aqua New Jersey. “Hamilton Well 13 PFAS Treatment.”
• Aqua New Jersey. “PFAS Infrastructure Projects.”

New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection

• New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection. “Statewide Lead Service Line Inventory.” Dec. 2025.
• New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection. “Lead Service Line Replacement Resources.”

New Jersey Infrastructure Bank

• New Jersey Infrastructure Bank. “Edison Township Meter Replacement.” News release.

Edison Township Municipal Water Infrastructure

• Jersey WaterCheck. “Edison Water Department System Details.”
• News 12 New Jersey. “Edison Residents Face Fifth Day Without Water Due to Persistent Main Break.” Dec. 2024.
• ABC7 New York. “Water Main Break Closes Route 1 in Edison, New Jersey in Both Directions.” Jan. 2026.
• News 12 New Jersey. “Water Main Break Shuts Down Parts of Route 1 in Edison.” Jan. 2026.