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Alloway, New Jersey

No one will ever mistake Alloway, New Jersey, for New York or Philadelphia. Alloway is a tiny town (population 2,500) located in the Southwest part of the state just a few miles from the Delaware River. Yet, Alloway has something that even major cities can only dream of – a state-of-the-art sewer system that’s low maintenance and environmentally sound.

Alloway’s new wastewater collection system, which was completed in September, 2009, is perhaps the most advanced sewer in the Mid-Atlantic region. It utilizes vacuum sewer technology to convey the community’s sewage to nearby Salem, New Jersey, where the effluent is treated and discharged. The system replaces hundreds of septic tanks that were creating an environmental problem for local residents and New Jersey’s Department of Environmental Protection.

Alloway had been looking to replace its septic tanks for decades. A new sewer was first proposed back in the early 1970s, but cost and inconvenience delayed the project until 2007. When engineers first looked at designing a conventional gravity sewer, they realized that Alloway presented numerous and significant installation obstacles.

In need of cost-effective options, the engineers examined the possibility of installing vacuum sewers. AIRVAC, Inc., a leader in vacuum sewer technology, was asked to make a proposal. Their approach to the problem changed the course of the project and gave Alloway an intelligent alternative to its sewer collection problem.

Installing AIRVAC sewers rather than gravity sewers saved Alloway taxpayers approximately $1 million, or about $180 annually for each user over 40 years. The Village of Alloway will also benefit from operational costs for years to come. The system itself requires very little maintenance and very little energy is required to operate it.

This article appeared in the November, 2009 issue of New Jersey Municipalities Magazine. If you would like to read the entire story as it appeared in the magazine, you can download a pdf, or you may request hard copies.

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