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Billing
Water
Wastewater Treatment Plant
Water bills are generated using the MasterTrak Utility Billing System. Water bills can be paid at the Borough Building, 122 East Butler Ave from 8am-4:30pm.
The Water and Sewer Departments are located in the Borough offices. The Water & Sewer bill is sent out on a quarterly basis after the quarter has ended. You can expect to receive your bill approximately 4 to 6 weeks after the quarter.
Questions, concerns or complaints specific to the water department's billing or service can be sent to water@borough.ambler.pa.us. Click here to view our PA PUC Water Tariff. This document gives the rates and rules governing the furnishing of water service to consumers located outside of the Borough of Ambler in the townships of Upper Dublin, Whitemarsh, Whitpain and Lower Gwynedd. Please view our most recent drinking water quality report.
Water charges are based on usage. The water rates can be found in Archives.
Sewer charges are also based on water usage. The rate is $5 per 1000 gallons of water used. Please direct any questions or comments about this program to the Borough Manager’s Office, Borough Building, 122 East Butler Ave, Ambler, PA 19002, or call 215-646-1000 or manager@borough.ambler.pa.us.
History
The Ambler Spring Water Company was founded by Dr. Richard Mattison in the late 1890's. In 1925 the Bodenstein system developed in the village of Fort Washington was purchased from the Bodenstein family. The principal source of water supply was the Whitemarsh Pumping Station. It delivered water via the ten-inch cast iron main up Skippack Pike to Broad Axe, where the 250,000 gallon elevated tank was erected in 1924, and served as the only storage facility. Ambler Borough Council purchased the Ambler Spring Water Company in 1937 upon approval of the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission and with a designated franchise area the Ambler Borough Water Department was created. This purchase also included the Upper Dublin Water system. In 1939 the 1 million gallon Loch Alsh standpipe was placed in service. It was during World War II that the first of the current nine operating deep wells were constructed. The certified franchise territory has been expanded several times and now comprises approximately 6.5 square miles, including Ambler Borough and portions of Lower Gwynedd, Upper Dublin, Whitemarsh, and Whitpain Townships. There are approximately 5700 water customers.
A. General Description
Wells
Presently there are nine operating wells and the spring wells at Whitemarsh Pumping Station. There are five other wells, Wells Nos. 3, 3A, 5, 10, and 15; Nos 3, 5, & 10 are used as observation wells. No. 3A was denied a permit and two appeals failed to reverse the denial; no further decision has been made on its future. Well No. 15 has an artesian discharge of about 25 gallons per minute (GPM) to the Prophecy Creek; its sulfate content is high but with continued discharge shows some lowering. It is currently equipped with a small pump that has about doubled its flow rate and periodic tests are run to monitor improvement in quality.
1. Distribution System
The distribution system consists of approximately 69 miles of water main, ranging in size from 2 inch to 12 inch. The early mains were cast iron. Asbestos cement was installed generally from 1940 to 1980. From 1980 on ductile iron pipe has been used on all new installations.
The system is divided into four service areas, namely A, B, C, & D. Service Area A is served by Loch Alsh elevated tank and covers most of the Borough, portions of Upper Dublin, Whitemarsh, and Whitpain Townships. Service Area B is served by Houston Road Elevated Tank and consists primarily of Lower Gwynedd, a small portion of Upper Dublin and the Haywood Park area of the Borough. Service Area C is carried by Broad Axe Standpipe and serves other portions of Whitemarsh and Whitpain Townships. Service Area D is served from Service Area A by the Loch Alsh Booster Station, all situate in Upper Dublin Township, south and east of the Upper Dublin Senior High School.
The distribution system supports approximately 300 fire hydrants of which 78 are in the Borough.
2. Booster Pumping Stations
Because of the various different topographic characteristics, both in distance and elevation of the system's overall service area, as mentioned above there are four service areas and three booster stations. On certain operation situations, except for Service Area D, which is constantly served by the Loch Alsh Booster Station No. 3, it is necessary to lift water into Service Areas B and C by booster stations located as follows:
- No. 1: Cherry Lane at Tennis Avenue, lifts water up into Service Area B. Currently a pony pump, with a capacity of 150 gpm is on automatic control from data from Houston Road Tank.
- No. 2: Carey Drive at Butler Pike, lifts water up into Service Area C. Also, at this station is a solenoid controlled valve, which, when Whitemarsh Pumping Station is on line, will allow excess water to flow into Service Area A. Maximum capacity 600 gpm; it is currently equipped with main booster and a pony pump.
- No.3 Loch Ash Avenue at Fort Washington Avenue operates around the clock with automatic control on three electric pumps and one emergency gasoline engine driven 400 GPM pump. Maximum capacity is 1,200 GPM.
- No. 4 Hoffman Road operates a 170 gpm pony pump that serves as a backup to the Cherry Lane station
No.1 & No. 2 stations have automatic controls governed by the water level in respective water tanks. These station controls are links via radio to the SCADA (Supervisory Control And Data Acquisition) system into the system control computer located in the Borough Office.
3. Storage Facilities
There are three storage facilities serving the system, whose locations, sizes and other pertinent data are described below. It should be noted that the economy of standpipe design uses water to hold water at an elevated position to provide a certain range of acceptable pressure, with the desirable minimum being 30 pounds per square inch (PSI), requiring a minimum height of 69.3 feet.
 Broad Axe Standpipe
Built in 1970, the Broad Axe tank is located at the corner of Skippack Pike and Butler Pike in Whitpain Township. The tank is 66 feet wide and over 85 feet high. It holds 2 million gallons of water and serves service area C and parts of Whitpain and Whitemarsh townships.
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 Houston Road Elevated Tank
Built in 1971, the Houston Road Tank is located across from the Wissahickon High School in Lower Gwynedd Township. The tank stands over 165 feet high and is 53 feet wide at the base. It holds 1 million gallons of water 125 feet above the ground in the 74-foot wide tank at the top of the structure. It services mostly Lower Gwynedd.
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Loch Alsh Standpipe
Built in 2004, the Loch Alsh Tank stands over 85 feet high and is 48 feet wide. It holds 750,000 thousand gallons 62 feet in the air and serves area A.
Loch Alsh Reservoir Dam Property
Loch Alsh Reservoir Dam property is located in Upper Dublin Township and is bordered on the southwest by Loch Alsh Avenue and the southeast by the Route 309 Expressway. The gross area is approximately 20 acres, including the area taken for the Expressway and an inaccessible triangular parcel of 0.89 acres on the east side of the expressway. The lake surface area is about seven acres. Four wells are located around the lake, which acts as a recharge facility to the underlying groundwater aquifer, making withdrawals rates higher than elsewhere in the service area. The water level is measured by a gage mounted on the outlet tower. Production of the wells varies with the water level of the lake.
The Borough has been fortunate in that Upper Dublin Township utilizes the general property as a recreation facility under an annual lease, with automatic renewal. Under the terms of the lease they handled all ground maintenance, policing and perform $1,000 of repairs and improvements annually. This arrangement has seen a steady improvement of the facility.
The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, through the Pennsylvania Fish Commission stocks the lake with trout periodically. There is no formal agreement covering this activity. Upon occasions, when water was to be released, either for repairs or to supplement St. Mary's Lake downstream, permission must be secured from the Fish Commission.
The Borough has been involved with the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection in developing an Emergency Action Plan, which is based on a rupture scenario of the dam in a 100 year storm event. This plan has been approved. Also, an annual dam inspection and report is required; copies are on file.
Whitemarsh Spring Facility
Whitemarsh Spring Facility is located near the intersection of Skippack Pike and Bethlehem Pike in Fort Washington. The facility produces approximately 300 GPM and was the principal source of supply from 1924 until World War II when deep wells were first constructed. Contained within this building is the activated charcoal filtering tanks, chlorination tanks and turbidity monitoring equipment.
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4. Meters
All customers are metered. An efficient water meter reading program is key to minimizing customer concerns and to assuring proper cash flow to meet the financial needs of the overall system. The original meters all read in cubic feet, which information was multiplied by 7.48 to convert it gallons. The conversion to direct gallons reading was begun in 1997. Since then approximately 500 new meters are installed annually. With much of the development going on out in the townships, properties with bigger setbacks and long driveways require meter pits. Because of snow and landscaping, “radio read” meters are being employed to cover these properties. Also, new computerized equipment has been installed, with the ultimate aim of eliminating all hand transcription of readings and the manual keying into the billing computer.
B. System Capacity and Demand
Based upon the data of the past, the average capacity of the nine operating wells and Whitemarsh Pumping Station was 1585 GPM, with a low of 1263 GPM and a yearly high of 2118 GPM.
Since 1995 the Borough has annually contracted for leak detection for the entire system. This detection and correction program leads to early detection, less costly correction and reduce unaccounted for water losses for which no revenues are realized. Conservation will assure that the underground water supplies are not wasted nor depleted. This program also reduces the demand to provide capital to develop additional sources of supply and storage facilities. Active annual, system wide leak detection work has paid off in the evident long term reduction in annual average water use. The average pumping rate is down to approximately 1215 gpm. from 1730gpm back in 1980.
The current customer load is approaching 5,700 connections, comprised of approximately 5400 residential, 225 commercial, 38 industrial, & 28 public connections.
C. System Operation
Five wells, Nos. 4, 9, 11, 12 & 14, are operated manually and are generally operated continuously. The four Loch Alsh wells, Nos 2, 6, 7, & 8 are operated automatically controlled by a master unit at Well No. 8 reading the water level of Loch Alsh Standpipe. Whitemarsh Pumping Station is operated manually and, because of the granular activated charcoal filters, requires periodic back washing. The water system operators perform this work. Currently Whitemarsh Pumping Station is offline and undergoing facility upgrades.
Other daily chores for the operators include taking chlorine residuals, samples for laboratory testing, data recording and handling customer complaints. Much of the data gathering is now done by the SCADA (Supervisory Control And Data Acquisition) system installed in 1996. A certified laboratory performs all lab work. Also, annual chemistry of each well is taken;
D. Water Quality
The water provided by the Borough's system has consistently met current safe drinking water standards over the years. Specific water quality varies from well to well. The chief complaint about the Borough' water is its hardness, with iron and manganese problems being the next in line. The other complaint is 'dirty water', which is the result of main or service line breaks, flushing or fire flows. Should you have an questions or concerns please call the Water Department at 215-646-1000.
 The original Borough of Ambler Wastewater Treatment Plant (WWTP) was designed by Albright and Friel, Inc., in 1934; the WWTP provided secondary treatment for a design average flow of 1.5 mgd. Albright and Friel designed the first WWTP expansion to 3.25 mgd in 1968. An upgrade and expansion to tertiary treatment for a design average flow of 6.5 mgd was designed by Betz, Converse and Murdoch, Inc., in 1978. Two anaerobic digesters were rehabilitated in 1982. Preliminary treatment to remove grit and screenings was designed in 1994. The screens became operational in 1994; the grit removal facility commenced operation in 1996. In 1999, the chlorine disinfection system was replaced with ultra-violet (UV) light disinfection. In 2000 domes were placed over the first stage trickling filters, and the first and second stage trickling filters were ventilated. In 2001-2002, Dissolved Air Flotation (DAF) was installed to replace the microscreens from the 1978 upgrade and expansion. The process improvements constructed after 1992 were designed by Environmental Engineering & Management Associates, Inc
Liquid Treatment
Raw wastewater enters the WWTP's main pump station (PS-1). Screenings and some grit are removed by ¼-inch screens located in the pump station wet well. Flow is pumped by a combination of one 6.0 mgd and two 9.8 mgd variable speed pumps to an above ground grit removal facility. The wastewater then flows by gravity to the splitter box (ET-1) that distributes flow to the primary clarifiers (ET-2, ET-3, ET-8 and ET-9). Primary sludge is settled and collected in these tanks and is pumped daily to either the gravity thickener (T-8) or to the primary anaerobic digesters (T-9, T-10 and ET-15).
Primary clarifier effluent flows by gravity to the first stage high rate plastic media trickling filters (ET-4 and ET-10). The effluent from these trickling filters is pumped by a variable speed pump (running as a constant speed) to the second stage high rate plastic media trickling filters (ET-5 and ET-11). The effluent from these filters is pumped by a variable speed pump either to the secondary rectangular clarifiers (ET-6, ET-7, ET-12 and ET-13) or is recirculated through the second stage trickling filters. Secondary clarifier sludge is removed continuously by telescoping valves and flows by gravity to the gravity thickener (T-8).
Secondary clarifier effluent flows by gravity to the nitrification feed pumping station (EPS-3) and is pumped to the nitrification tower filters (T-1 and T-2). The nitrification tower effluent flows by gravity to Dissolved Air Flotation (DAF) tanks located in the DAF building (B-2) or is recirculated back to the nitrification feed pumping station (EPS-3).
Effluent from the Dissolved Air Flotation (DAF) tanks flows by gravity to Tank T-4 where it flows through the ultra-violet (UV) light disinfection system. After a few seconds of contact time, the flow enters tanks T-5 and T-6. The final effluent flows through a parshall flume (T-7) and an aeration cascade prior discharge to the Wissahickon Creek.
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