Recently, I visited the office of the Northampton Borough Municipal Authority. My friend, NBMA Manager Steve Kerbacher, gave me an interesting page of the authority’s history, taken from an anniversary booklet published by the authority. Most of our readers know the authority not only provides water for Northampton, but also to our friendly neighboring communities.

The document states:

On March 26, 1940, the properties of the Clear Springs Water Service Company were acquired by Northampton Borough Municipal Authority, under whose ownership and management the water system has since been operated. Until March 1987, the authority also held title to Northampton’s sewer system, which was leased to the Borough of Northampton for operation. In March 1987, the title to the sewer system was acquired by the Borough of Northampton for ownership and operation.

The authority came into being under the provisions of the Municipal Authorities Act of 1935 as amended through adoption on Aug. 8, 1939, by the Council of Northampton Borough and approval of same by the Burgess of Articles of Incorporation and the granting of a certificate of incorporation by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania under the date of Sept. 21, 1939.

The acquisition of the water works project was accomplished with the adoption of a bond resolution authorizing the purchase, the issuance and sale of $1,000,000 water revenue bonds and certain other provisions to which the authority is obligated in its conduct and operation of the system.

The history of the water system dates back to an original incorporation on May 15, 1899, and also the formation of a company through the merger and consolidation of a group of companies under the name of Clear Springs Water Company.

In 1940, the authority provided service to 4,436 customers. Today, the total number of customers served by the authority is approximately 15,300, showing an increase of 245 percent. The water service is comprised of the Boroughs of Northampton and North Catasauqua and Allen Township in Northampton County and the Borough of Coplay, Whitehall Township and North Whitehall Township in Lehigh County. The estimated population served in 2015 is 40,000, an increase of 23,000 since 1940.