Water, sewer rates up 14% in Wayne
Township officials blame higher supplier costs
By: Philip DeVencentis
NorthJersey.com
USA Today Network - New Jersey
WAYNE - Local ratepayers will be charged 14% more for tap water over the next two years as officials keep pace with the purchase price.
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The township buys water from the North Jersey district Water supply Commission, which runs one of the largest waterworks systems in the state. It draws from the Monksville and Wanaque reservoirs, part of a 95-sauare-mile watershed in upper Passaic County.
..... Wayne has not raise the cost for water consumption in six years. At that time, the quarterly rate per 1,000 gallons - for a family using 8,000 gallons, but less than 30,000 gallons - went up to $5.46.
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The same household will be charged $5.84 per 1,000 gallons, or 7% more, as of July 1. [2026] The quarterly rate will bump up another 7% to $6.25 per 1,000 gallons, on July 1, 2028.
..... Mayor Christopher Vergano said the rate change, approved by the Township Council on June 3, [2026] are a "direct result of increased costs to us."
..... For the same reason, officials raised the cost for sewage disposal by 14%.
..... A single-family resident or townhouse will be charged $504 per year, beginning July 1. [2026]
..... That rate will go up to $540 in two years.
..... The cost for apartment dwellers is less, and hat for dentist and doctors who operate out of their homes is more.
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The water supply commission, led by a seven-person governing body, contracts with Bayonne, Kearny, Newark and nine other municipalities, inlcdu9ing Wayne, which receives 9.5 million gallons of treated water per day from the southern portion of the Wanaque Reservoir.
..... The township has adopted different approaches to try to conserve water.
..... Officials implemented a permanent schedule for lawn watering, based on alternate street addresses in March 2025, they took an extraordinary step to cap the high of new buildings at 2 1/2 stories along highways and in office zones.