The original water supply system serving the Town was privately constructed around 1932 by the late Harold S. Vanderbilt consisting of eight 6-inch shallow supply wells (Nos. 5-11), 3-500 gpm (gallons per minute) pumps, and related facilities. In 1957, Mr. Vanderbilt donated the property and equipment of the System to the Town. During the late 1950’s the Town conducted an extensive groundwater survey in the area west of the water plant and determined that a supply of moderately soft, low iron content groundwater existed. Subsequently a 4-inch test well was drilled (No. 1) and later an 8-inch production well (No. 2) was developed. In addition a 300,000-gallon storage tank and other facilities were constructed.
In 1962, another 8-inch well (No. 3) was constructed west of the plant site and in 1970, Well No. 4 (8-inch) was drilled on the plant site. The existing water treatment facility was constructed and completed in 1982 and Well Nos. 12 and 13 were constructed in 1983 and 1988 respectively. In late 1997 and early 1998, the Town constructed updates to the System’s main electrical control panel, monitoring and control systems. The work included a new main control panel, SCADA computer, and telemetry system. The telemetry system encompassed the Island Storage Tank and Wells 2, 3, 12 and 13. A new 400,000-gallon concrete water storage tank was constructed and placed on line at the water treatment plant site in June, 1999. Construction of major electrical and mechanical modifications at the island Booster Pump Station were completed in January 2001 including a new propane gas engine powered generator, a new booster pump number 4, and major refurbishment of the electrical and control systems. Various architectural improvements were also made. New 6-inch water mains were constructed in the Hypoluxo Point subdivision in 2001 in conjunction with the Town of Hypoluxo installing a new gravity sewer system.
The Town was now faced with having to improve their water treatment facilities in order to reach compliance with the Safe Drinking Water Act (the SDWA), Stage 1 Disinfection By-products Rule (the DBR) and to meet future growth. After consideration of multiple water sources and treatment alternatives, the conclusion was reached that the Town’s best short and long term needs would best be satisfied by developing a new raw water supply from the Floridan Aquifer and constructing a Reverse Osmosis (RO) water treatment facility. Such concepts were once thought to be too costly to construct, too costly to operate and too complex for smaller communities.
However, with today’s technological advancements, most coastal communities in Florida and many inland communities are considering one form or another of the membrane treatment of public water supplies. The new plant is currently in its final permitting stages and will be partially online in March of 2006. Several months of testing, adjusting and reconfiguration will be needed before the system is at 100% capacity. The Town will continue use the old water plant to blend with the RO water to return some hardness back into the final product. The water plant will have a capacity of nearly 2.5 million gallons of water per day and will serve all of the residents of Manalapan as well as a large portion of the Town of Hypoluxo.
