Drinking Water, Forests and Answers Beneath Your Feet
North Jersey Columnist, Madison Eagle
The answer to the question “where does your drinking water come from?” is right beneath your feet.
If you’re one of the 58,000 residents of Madison, Chatham Borough, Florham Park or East Hanover, you get your water from the Buried Valley Aquifer.
Every last drop.
The water that lands in your glass is pumped up from wells that have been drilled some 150 feet deep. It comes from the Buried Valley Aquifer (BVA), a network of buried glacial valleys that extends across parts of Morris, Essex, Somerset and Union Counties. The BVA is a major source of drinking water for a total of 31 towns.
Next question: If your tap is speedy, how fast is recharge?
The answer is: slow. Water needs to percolate back down through soil, rock and glacial debris.