Buying an old ice house on Burnet Street and converting it into a coal burning, steam powered pump station, three private investors founded the New Brunswick Water Utility in 1863. Known as the New Brunswick Water Company, this group installed two twenty inch, cast iron water mains from lower Burnet Street to Comstock Street and Nichol Avenue and two water main control houses, constructed a 9 million-gallon reservoir, and delivered water to New Brunswick residents through a series of under ground water mains using a gravity feed system.

In 1873, New Brunswick's municipal government took control of the Water Company in an effort to offer lower rates to city residents and businesses. Since then the New Brunswick Water Department has been owned and operated by the City of New Brunswick.

During the 1920's, Mayor Farrington saw fit to fund the construction of the water treatment plant and more importantly, the Farrington dam. The dam secured a water source (800 million gallons) for the residents of New Brunswick. The treatment plant and the pressure filter building (constructed in 1935)for the first time enabled the City to filter and disinfect the water from this source. In 1929, New Brunswick pumped and treated approximately 6 million gallons of water a day.

By the 1950's, the D and R canal was no longer used as a transportation device, and the City of New Brunswick decided to secure the canal as a raw water source. The D and R Canal Pump Station was constructed and a 30-inch pipe was installed from Bucceleuch Park to Nichol Avenue. With this construction New Brunswick now had two independent sources of water for its residents. By the 1960s the New Brunswick Water Utility was pumping and treating 22 million gallons a day to the residents of the City as well as East Brunswick and Milltown.

The New Brunswick Water Utility currently pumps and treats approximately 12.5 million gallons of water a day to residents in New Brunswick, Milltown and Franklin. Over the last 9 years, in an effort to continue exceeding tightening regulations, the City has invested $11 million in capital improvements in our water system.