Cape May Announces New Facility That Will Benefit Locals and Shore Visitors

One of the oldest and most popular New Jersey Shore Towns is Cape May. For 200 years, the southernmost point of The Garden State has been a vacation destination and a favorite weekend getaway for many in the Tri-State region.

While the year-round population in Cape May is around 2,800, the number of people on Cape Island jumps to around 50,000 during the summer months. From Cape May Point to the Coast Guard Base on the east end of Cape Island to West Cape May and the City of Cape May all have to make sure the infrastructure is updated to handle the influx of visitors each year.

Cape May opened an innovative desalination facility in 1998, but 30 years later Cape Island needs a more modern technological answer for the water supply demands of a diverse community of overlapping business and residential needs.

Cape May breaking ground on new Water Treament Facility Project

In a social media post, the City of Cape May is inviting the community to a ceremony for the groundbreaking for the new project that will modernize the island's water supply system:

"The City of Cape May invites the community to the Groundbreaking Ceremony for the Future Water Treatment Plant on Monday, October 19 at 9:00 AM at 830 Canning House Lane. This important project represents an investment in Cape May’s infrastructure and the future of our community. We hope you’ll join us as we celebrate this milestone and officially kick off construction!"

According to regional media reports, October 19th marks the start of Phase I for the construction of a new water treament facility. The new building will include modern tanks and pipelines that, when the project is finished, will be connected to the city's wells with the new water treatment system, and upgraded water supply distribution.

The next phase of the project is scheduled to begin in 2027 when federal funds from the Thomas R. Casper Water Resources Development Act are made available. This money will pay for the installation of a reverse-osmosis water filtering system to the new facility along with adding a fourth well to the city water supply to maximize the utilization of the new iron-removal technology.

The new water treatment facility also benefits Cape May by meeting state requirements for municipal water supply systems. The 30 year old system is not just using outdated technology but also has not been compliant with New Jersey standards for years.