United Water And Kearny Sign Three-Year Contract For Operation Of Customer Service Functions

Harrington Park, NJ, July 2, 2000 -- United Water announced today that it has begun to provide meter reading, billing, collection and customer service to the Town of Kearny. The services are being provided as part of a three-year contract with the town valued at over $800,000.00. Kearny has approximately 40,000 residents and 9,000 water accounts.

“We are pleased to be working with the Town of Kearny to provide a customized ‘customer care’ package,” said Robert Iacullo, president, United Water New Jersey. “What works so well in an arrangement like this is that we tailor our services to meet the needs of the community. It’s truly a partnership effort.”

The Town of Kearny is still responsible for setting water rates and will continue to purchase water from the North Jersey District Water Supply Commission. The Kearny Water Department employees will maintain the municipal water pipes and fire hydrants within the Town of Kearny.

“We believe this change in management will result in improved service and more accurate billing for the residents of our community,” said Kearny Mayor Alberto Santos. The Mayor went on to say that the agreement would benefit the entire community as major upgrades are put in place including: repair or replacement of malfunctioning water meters, updating the billing system and providing customers with accurate and timely bills.

Director of customer service, Sonja Clark, explained that while the new customer service system will improve account information available to customers, she warned that some customers may receive a higher bill than they are used to for the first billing cycle. “The water meters in Kearny have not been read since February. The new bills will therefore reflect water usage for a longer time period.” Future bills will be based upon a regular billing cycle of 90 days for residential customers and 30 days for commercial and industrial customers. Customers with questions are asked to call 1 800 242 5695.

United Water is New Jersey’s largest private water services provider, delivering service to more than 1.2 million people. United Water provides water and wastewater service to more than 7.5 million people in the U.S. The company is a wholly owned subsidiary of ONDEO Services, part of the Suez Group, the world’s leader in water and wastewater management services.

www.unitedwater.com/uwnj