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Ridgewood Water outlines PFAS treatment plan, proposes rate increases and several contracts
Summary
Ridgewood Water presented a timeline for final PFAS treatment facilities, several contracting awards and a proposed water rate increase that would raise the average customer bill about 11.7%. The council heard funding, grant-seeking and legal-recovery efforts tied to the work.
Rich Kalbi, director of Ridgewood Water, said the utility is moving into construction and rate steps to finish long-running PFAS treatment projects. Ridgewood Water recommended awarding a $1,498,278.61 professional-services contract to Arcadis US Inc. to provide construction administration and inspection for the three remaining PFAS treatment facilities at the East Side (Ridgewood), the main Glen Rock plant and the Mountain facility (Wyckoff).
Kalbi told the Village Council the firm Raftelis reviewed the 2025 water budget and concluded the budget was “reasonable and appropriate” and aligned with industry standards. Based on the budget, Ridgewood Water proposed a 9% volume-rate increase from $5.86 to $6.37 per 1,000 gallons, a 9% increase in the facilities charge and an increase to the PFAS fixed charge from $24.71 to $37.07 per quarter for a standard 5/8-inch meter. Ridgewood Water estimated the combined change would raise the annual bill for a typical 5/8-inch-meter household using about 7,000 gallons a month by $81.24, or about 11.7%.
Kalbi described other recommended awards and operations items tied to water-quality work: a $24,805.59 purchase of a corrosion-control chemical (Carus product) for Passaic Valley Water Commission interconnect water; a $19,800 contract to FSC Leak Detection for acoustic leak surveys covering about 88 miles of distribution pipe; and a year-two HVAC maintenance not-to-exceed $55,000 to Unitent Mechanical Degrees LLC. Kalbi said the chemical and leak-detection work are funded from the water operating budget and the Arcadis contract from the water capital budget.
On funding, Kalbi and village officials described a multi-pronged approach: pursuit of state and iBank financing (including principal forgiveness programs), continued grant applications, and ongoing litigation against firms that manufactured PFAS-containing products. Kalbi said the utility is also pursuing insurance recovery avenues for pre-exclusion insurance policies.
Council members pressed for context on comparative rates; Kalbi said Raftelis’ memo shows Ridgewood remains “in the middle of the pack” compared with comparable utilities even after the increases. The council discussed the PFAS-related debt burden, and Kalbi said operating costs rose only about 2% — the remainder of the budget increase is debt service tied to PFAS capital.
Kalbi said the next steps are to post the Raftelis memorandum and the full budget online, introduce the ordinance for the rate changes on March 10 and hold a final public hearing on April 9. He told the council he expects the rates to first appear on third-quarter bills for ratepayers.
Council members and staff also noted related district work: Ridgewood Water described a continuing schedule to seek grants and iBank assistance and said it had recently completed procurement for construction administration to keep the three final PFAS projects on track for the utility’s target schedule.
The council voiced support for continuing to seek outside funding and legal recovery to offset costs, while acknowledging that rate increases are unpopular.
