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BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA , Your brother is a plumber and you stink!

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Great, now our water has SPAM in it.

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Yes, that is a part of it. Raw sewage means everything that goes down drains, either from the sink, shower, toilet, washing machine, "safe" industrial waste, street water, etc. It's mostly just plain water with a shitload of lipids from the soap and the occasional floater. Sometimes, if you're in a sewer, it almost smells pleasantly floral from all the detergent.

does raw sewage = poo? i've wondered this for a while now and figured I'd finally ask someone.

So...just to make sure, you know our water does not come from Hudson county, correct?

What did your water test reveal? Did you send it to a lab or do the home depot kit? I considered a lab but did the Home Depot kit and mine came out fine.

The thing that freaks me out is that United Water has a PASS on testing our water for VOC's...why on earth would they have a pass on that?

I assume the JCMUA is listed as a water polluter because like NYC we have a combined storm/sewer system. When it rains hard it can overflow. I walk by the outflow in newport by Micheal Anthony's almost every day on my way to my office and see raw sewage coming out much of the time.

Raising rates??? are you kidding me??? Has anyone checked out the the truth about our Jersey City water? We are bathing in filth and poison and now they want to charge us more???? After watching Dr. Oz echo what the NY Times told us about the water (front page of September 13, 2009 edition of the Sunday paper). The truth is that municipalities are allowed to dump toxins in our water, the pipes are old and that ALL pipes have lead....yes I said lead. We can get cable into every home but we cannot get clean water. Don't take my word for it ....http://projects.nytimes.com/toxic-wat ... olluters/new-jersey/07305.

I found the interactive site very informative. I searched all Hudson County Zip Codes and I was disgusted!

My brother is a plumber and at his urging I stopped showering with this horrible water, I stopped bathing my kids in this water and I stopped cooking in this water. They did a water test on my water and I was stunned to find out what was in my water!

I bought the best, and I mean the best water filtration system that was surprisingly affordable and has a lifetime warranty...not limited warranty.... a life time warranty. It is the only system that is certifed to remove (not reduce like my Brita system) all toxins especially the lead and chlorine that is in all jersey city water.

There is no way I was going to pay for this nasty water, and then buy bottled water now I save my money...

Feel free to email me for details about saving money and filtering your water... ggibson247@gmail.com

Its just a sneaky way to raise taxes.Since any surplus funds from the MUA go directly to city hall,raise the MUA fees and plug the budget hole.Then claim that taxes have not gone up.

Projected budget short fall for this year is 72 million dollars.
Thats gonna take a whole lot of gimmicks to fix.This is just the start.

I agree that this should have never been privatized (along with the parking authority). But, what is done is done, I don't understand why they people with just a high school education running things. They run it just like the city runs its finances.
They are raising rates because they don't have as many sewer connection fees (tax abatements)coming through. They have been using connection fees to plug gaps in their budgets. Sound familiar?
All the sewer connection fees paid over the past few years would indicate that there are many more "end users" online now using their services and paying bills. Water/sewer utilities should operate under economies of scale. The cost of providing their services should not increse dollar for dollar with the goods "sold". Once the pipe is run to the building, maybe you need to higher another meter reader or something.

Why didn't United Water issue bonds to pay for the needed infrastructure repairs, using the increased revenue from all the end users (from all the connection fees that have been paid) to pay the interest and principal?

Instead, god knows where that money went, and the property owner is left holding the bag.....along with the property tax increase they have to bear because all the builidngs that paid those sewer connection fees are tax abated too!!!!

The rule has been - sewer rates are double the water rates, so does water also increase? I has been saying for a long time, creating automonous agencies and privatizing the water will mean higher rates. Last year, our city council renewed the water contract with United Water for 10 more years, where was the public hearing?

This might be a case where focusing on the percentage rise in the rates is misleading. The article states that the average homeowner will pay $12/mo more. That is not a completely unreasonable number.

What's more interesting is why JC has not sought economic stimulus dollars for infrastructure modernization. Sewer system upgrades are the ideal type of project for stimulus money.

Maybe time is ripe for a tax payer revolt.

Starting to see a very suspicious and bad pattern here.

Seems that city govt and agencies have figured it out. When they raise rates, they give little or no public notice, and then schedule the vote at the most impractical time possible. Right during the evening rush hour - 5pm to 7pm.

This way, the working folks of the city have no way they can get to voice their anger and how upset they are.

It happened back in July with the 11.25% property tax increase when the meeting was held at 6 pm and only like four people showed up. (myself being one of them).

And now its happened again with this 20+% increase and their 5 pm meeting.

This is absolutely crazy and is not government by the people for the people.

Property taxes, and all of these services fees are out of control.

What is Jersey City doing to keep costs down? Forget furloughs... how about cuts and layoffs.

Also, how could sewer connection fees be down with all of this development that's taken place? I bet it was part of the sweetheart deals given to developers. I think their should be a tiered system where these big condo developments should pay higher fees. Not passing the burden on to the average jc resident.

Also, when was the last time JC was audited?

NOT HAPPY with these sneak attack taxes and fees.

FG

JC homeowners will pay at least $144 more for water/sewer bill

JERSEY CITY - Jersey City residents will see a 24 percent jump in their water/sewer bill starting on Jan. 1.

That's due to the Jersey City Municipal Utilities Authority Board of Commissioners voting at their board meeting on Thursday to raise the combined water/sewer rate from this year's estimated $6.57 per 100 cubic feet to $8.15 per 100 cubic feet, an increase of 24 percent.

Specifically, the sewer rate will soar from this year's $3.25 per ccf (100 cubic feet) to $4.70 per ccf, a 45 percent hike. The MUA is responsible for overseeing the city's water and sewer operations, with United Water contracted to focus on the city's water system.

According to MUA Executive Director Dan Becht, the increase is going into effect because of various factors -- from shrinking sewer connection fees projected for 2010 to the increased costs of upgrading the city's century-old sewer system.

Becht also defended the increase, saying the sewer rate had been at levels seen during the 1990s and had not kept up with cost-of-living increases.

Homeowners will be paying a minimum of $144 more on their yearly bill. Those homeowners and others affected by the increase would have had an opportunity to speak on changing rate before the commissioners voted, but the board meeting was apparently advertised as a 5 p.m. public hearing. The only member of the public present was a reporter.

Taking issue with the increase was City Councilman Steven Fulop, who had heard rumors of an increase and that Becht had informed Mayor Jerramiah Healy about a hike in the rate but not the council.

"I don't understand how the MUA could do this at families are struggling in this tough economy," Fulop said. "At the very least, the MUA should have made a presentation to the City Council on why they are doing this.

Fulop plans to address this issue at the next City Council caucus scheduled for Nov. 9. -

RK