The New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection is seeking a consultant to lead a sweeping regionalization of Trenton Water Works, aiming to restructure the troubled utility through a new governance model shared by five Mercer County municipalities.
A request for proposals issued April 16 outlines the establishment of a regional water utility jointly overseen by the City of Trenton and the townships of Ewing, Hamilton, Lawrence, and Hopewell. Proposals are due May 30, with work set to begin in July and continue over two years.
The RFP does not reference it directly, but the regionalization plan follows the release of a 217-page DEP-commissioned evaluation in January 2025, which concluded that Trenton Water Works (TWW) suffers from chronic mismanagement, inadequate maintenance, and a lack of technical, managerial, and financial capacity. The report found the utility to be at “extremely high risk of systemic failure” and recommended significant structural reforms to ensure safe and reliable service.
Trenton Water Works serves more than 200,000 residents across Trenton and four neighboring townships, yet the system is solely governed by the city. In January, mayors of all five municipalities sent a joint letter to the DEP calling for the formation of a new public utility with shared oversight and accountability.
The DEP is now seeking a firm to serve as project lead for the transition, which will include stakeholder engagement, governance design, regulatory compliance planning, rate structure recommendations, and public outreach. The consultant will report to an executive steering committee composed of local mayors and DEP officials.
Under the proposed structure, all five municipalities would have formal representation, with the aim of creating a more transparent and coordinated approach to water service. The DEP says this collaborative model would allow for shared investment, improved operations, and better response during emergencies.
The overhaul follows years of documented issues at TWW. In 2022, the DEP placed the utility under direct state oversight, citing a pattern of health and safety violations and failed infrastructure upgrades. A separate report made public earlier this year revealed that a TWW employee had falsified water quality samples for more than a year.
TWW has also struggled with water quality crises, including a Legionnaires’ disease outbreak in 2022 and 2023 that resulted in two deaths and multiple hospitalizations. Other problems have included elevated lead levels, staffing shortages, delayed capital projects, and a lack of training and accountability among personnel.
Despite its failures, the DEP report noted that the physical system—including the water treatment plant and main transmission lines—was originally well designed. It concluded, however, that years of neglect, poor leadership, and lack of investment had severely undermined the utility’s capacity to operate safely.
Firms responding to the RFP must demonstrate experience in water system governance, regulatory compliance, stakeholder facilitation, and local government operations. The consultant will be expected to post monthly progress updates online and coordinate with both municipal and state stakeholders.
More information is available at dep.nj.gov/bids.
