The Newtown Bucks County Joint Municipal Authority is considering building a water treatment plant.
The authority, which serves Newtown borough and township, used to have a treatment plant, but it shut down in the 1980s. The system is presently a wholesale customer of the Bucks County Water and Sewer Authority.
The authority is exploring a 17.5-acre lot on Lower Silver Lake Road, with drainage into the Core Creek that flows into Middletown Township.
Warren Gormley, the authority’s executive director, said the authority is looking at the property where KRE Upper Macungie Associates LP has proposed a four-story, 245-unit apartment building.
The executive director said the authority could purchase it, but a deal has not been struck with the owner.
“We’re working on that. We’ve had an appraisal already done on the land,” Gormley said.
The Neshaminy Interceptor and prospective rate increases by the Bucks County Water and Sewer Authority have prompted the Newtown Bucks County Joint Municipal Authority to explore plans to build a treatment plant
The interceptor runs through Lower Bucks County, including the Newtown area, and sends wastewater to Philadelphia to be treated by the Philadelphia Water Department.
The authority noted that the Bucks County Water and Sewer Authority has raised rates for wholesale clients, like the Newtown Bucks County Joint Municipal Authority, due to essential upgrades the interceptor demands.
Gormley recently informed Newtown Borough officials that the Newtown Bucks County Joint Municipal Authority lacks authority to take part in rate adjustment and increase decisions, which are managed by the Bucks County Water and Sewer Authority and Philadelphia.
A Newtown Bucks County Joint Municipal Authority-owned and -operated treatment plant would give local control.
The Newtown Bucks County Joint Municipal Authority will explore the proposal and aims to have a decision in the coming months. Public sessions are being planned.
The Newtown Bucks County Joint Municipal Authority previously explored a new plant off the Newtown Bypass near the George School property and the Crown Pointe neighborhood, but that effort didn’t move forward in 2013. There were concerns about any smell from the plant and the cost to stifle any odors. A Patch.com article from the time said the project was projected to cost $68 million
Newtown Bucks County Joint Municipal Authority serves 9,000 customers in the area.
