Brick Water Hardness & Quality Report (2026)

Brick Township, New Jersey, in Ocean County at the northern New Jersey Shore on Barnegat Bay — one of the largest townships in New Jersey by population — draws its municipal water supply from groundwater via the Brick Township Municipal Utilities Authority (BTMUA), pumping from the Kirkwood–Cohansey Aquifer System (the Cohansey Formation and underlying Kirkwood Formation — Miocene and Pliocene Atlantic Coastal Plain siliceous sand aquifers) beneath Ocean County's coastal plain. Brick Township is in the heart of the New Jersey Pine Barrens. Water hardness in Brick measures 62.5 mg/L — classified as moderately soft, soft for a groundwater-dependent community.

Brick's soft supply reflects the Pine Barrens Kirkwood–Cohansey Aquifer's characteristic siliceous geology. The Cohansey Formation is an unconsolidated, poorly cemented quartz sand and gravel formation of Miocene–Pliocene age, essentially pure silica with minimal carbonate content — one of New Jersey's most famous aquifers for very soft, clean, low-mineral water. The Pine Barrens ecosystem itself exists because of the Cohansey Formation's extreme siliceous character — acid, nutrient-poor soil hostile to standard temperate forest but perfect for the distinctive Pine Barrens flora. The Kirkwood–Cohansey groundwater throughout Ocean County is consistently soft, producing the moderately soft supply characteristic of the Jersey Shore coastal plain.

With hardness at 62.5 mg/L, Brick residents enjoy soft water with minimal scale challenges. Soap and shampoo lather well. Faucet aerators and showerheads develop deposits slowly. BTMUA consistently delivers water meeting all New Jersey DEP and EPA Safe Drinking Water Act requirements.