The 120-acre Brick Township Reservoir site, located on Herbertsville and Sally Ike Roads[1] is a source of municipal water for towns in Ocean County, New Jersey and is owned by the Brick Township Municipal Utilities Authority. The reservoir, while often referred to as "Brick Reservoir" is actually located in both Brick and Wall Townships,[2] with 80 of the 120 acres within Wall Township borders.[3] Through a joint agreement with Wall Township, police, fire and first aid protection for the reservoir are provided by Brick Township.[4]
| Brick Township Reservoir | |
|---|---|
 | |
  Brick Township Reservoir  Brick Township Reservoir | |
| Location | Monmouth County, New Jersey and Ocean County, New Jersey |
| Coordinates | 40°07′38″N 74°07′14″W / 40.127194°N 74.120421°W |
| Type | Reservoir |
| Primary inflows | Metedeconk River |
| Basin countries | United States |
The Brick Reservoir is a pumped reservoir that draws its water from the Metedeconk River watershed unlike the nearby Manasquan Reservoir which uses the Manasquan River watershed as its source. The reservoir can pump up to 24 million US gallons (91,000 m3) of water daily[1] through its 4.7-mile pipeline connection to the river.[5] When the reservoir basin is filled to capacity, it covers approximately 90 acres of the property.[2]
The $19.4 million[6] reservoir opened May 7, 2005, is 90 feet (27 m) deep[1] and has a capacity of 1 billion gallons.[2]
History
The reservoir is constructed on the site of an abandoned gravel pit, the authority purchased the property in April 1996 for $810,000, which was mostly funded through a 30-year lease to a communication company for a cell phone tower.[7]
To prepare the former gravel mining site for use as a reservoir existing buildings and debris were removed, including approximately 33,500 tons of steel slag and 7,000 tons of Kaofin, a legally dumped by-product from Marcal Paper corporation. An additional 1,000,000 cubic yards of overburden material were excavated and removed from the site.[2]
At the time of the reservoir's construction it was only the second fully lined reservoir in the United States. The reservoir's design is based on an existing lined reservoir in Colorado.[3] The reservoir's liner is 40 millimeters thick and covered by 18 inches of soil with a narrow rock breakwater surrounding the shore line to protect against wave erosion.[2] The design life of the reservoir is anticipated to be around 75–100 years.[3]
Recreation
There is a public 1.6 miles (2.6 km) perimeter trail which encircles the reservoir. Fishing is permitted on the reservoir and there are several 40-by-100-foot fishing stations located on the site.[8]
References
- ^ a b c Karl Vilacoba (May 12, 2004). "Brick MUA goes with the flow". Brick township Bulletin. Archived from the original on April 21, 2012. Retrieved Nov 2, 2001.
- ^ a b c d e "Frequently Asked Questions". Brick Township Municipal Utilities Authority. March 10, 2006. Archived from the original on 2002-08-02. Retrieved Nov 7, 2001.
- ^ a b c "MINUTES OF THE TOWNSHIP COMMITTEE, October 4, 2000" (PDF). Wall Township. October 4, 2000. Archived from the original (PDF) on November 13, 2006. Retrieved Nov 2, 2001.
- ^ Danielle Medina (August 31, 2006). "Reservoir now on the beat of Brick cops, firefighters". Brick township Bulletin. Archived from the original on April 25, 2012. Retrieved Nov 2, 2001.
- ^ Patricia A. Miller (Jan 28, 2010). "A good run". Brick township Bulletin. Archived from the original on November 26, 2010. Retrieved November 2, 2001.
- ^ "Pumped Storage Reservoir Project". O’Brien & Gere. Archived from the original on 2012-04-30. Retrieved Nov 2, 2001.
- ^ Jennifer Dome (May 12, 2005). "Come one, come all to the Brick reservoir". Brick township Bulletin. Archived from the original on January 21, 2010. Retrieved Nov 2, 2001.
- ^ Karl Vilacoba (August 13, 2003). "Sponsorships available for reservoir landscape items". Brick township Bulletin. Archived from the original on April 21, 2012. Retrieved Nov 2, 2001.