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A prominent Victorian-style house in Hopewell, New Jersey.
Jerrye & Roy Klotz, MD/CC BY-SA 3.0
February 25, 2026
Water contamination and privatization in Hopewell, NJ
This audio story covers Hopewell, a village-like town in New Jersey, during the week of a pivotal referendum to privatize its water system.
In this podcast, listeners learn more about water contamination in the United States using Hopewell as a case study. As infrastructure costs rise and contamination concerns persist, residents must decide whether to maintain local ownership or transfer control to the country’s largest water utility company.
Through interviews with one proponent and one opponent of the sale, this captures how deeply personal this decision has become.
