Brick Township Reservoir facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Brick Township Reservoir |
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 Brick Township Reservoir
Location in New Jersey
Brick Township Reservoir
Location in the United States
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| 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 Township Reservoir is a big, important source of drinking water for many towns in Ocean County, New Jersey. It's owned by the Brick Township Municipal Utilities Authority. Even though it's called "Brick Reservoir," it's actually in two towns: Brick and Wall Township. Most of its 120 acres are in Wall Township. Brick Township helps keep it safe with police, fire, and first aid services.
This reservoir is special because it's a "pumped reservoir." This means it gets its water from the Metedeconk River. It can pump up to 24 million gallons (about 91,000 cubic meters) of water every day. This water travels through a 4.7-mile (7.6 km) long pipeline from the river. When the reservoir is full, it covers about 90 acres of land.
The Brick Township Reservoir cost $19.4 million to build. It opened on May 7, 2005. It is 90 feet (27 meters) deep and can hold 1 billion gallons (about 3.8 billion liters) of water.
How the Reservoir Was Built
The Brick Township Reservoir was built on an old gravel pit. The authority bought the land in April 1996 for $810,000. Most of this money came from leasing land for a cell phone tower.
To get the site ready, old buildings and trash were removed. This included about 33,500 tons of steel waste. They also removed 7,000 tons of "Kaofin," a material from a paper company. Plus, about 1 million cubic yards of extra soil were dug out.
When it was built, the Brick Township Reservoir was only the second fully lined reservoir in the United States. Its design was based on a similar lined reservoir in Colorado. The reservoir's special liner is 40 mil thick. It's covered by 18 inches (46 cm) of soil. A narrow rock breakwater protects the shoreline from waves. This reservoir is expected to last for 75 to 100 years.
Fun Things to Do at the Reservoir
The reservoir has a public trail that goes all the way around it. This trail is 1.6 miles (2.6 km) long. You can also go fishing at the reservoir. There are several special fishing spots, each about 40 by 100 feet (12 by 30 meters) in size.
