Capitalization (Details Narrative) (USD $) In Thousands, except Share data, unless otherwise specified	1 Months Ended		12 Months Ended					1 Months Ended				1 Months Ended			1 Months Ended				12 Months Ended			12 Months Ended
	Nov. 30, 2012	Jun. 30, 2010	Dec. 31, 2012	Dec. 31, 2011	Dec. 31, 2010	Dec. 31, 2012 Series QQ RR SS	Dec. 31, 2012 Series QQ	Dec. 31, 2012 Series S - W	Jan. 31, 2013 Series DD	May 31, 2012 New Jersey State Revolving Fund	Dec. 31, 2010 New Jersey State Revolving Fund	May 31, 2012 OOMember	May 31, 2012 PPMember	Dec. 31, 2012 Delaware State Revolving Fund	Mar. 31, 2011 Delaware State Revolving Fund Tidewater	Mar. 31, 2011 Delaware State Revolving Fund Southern Shores	Dec. 31, 2012 New Jersey Economic Development Authority	Dec. 31, 2012 New Jersey Environmental Infrastructure Trust	Dec. 31, 2012 Nonredeemable Preferred Stock $7.00 Series	Dec. 31, 2012 Convertible Preferred Stock $7.00 Series	Dec. 31, 2012 Convertible Preferred Stock $8.00 Series	Dec. 31, 2012 Outside Director Stock Compensation Plan	Dec. 31, 2011 Outside Director Stock Compensation Plan	Dec. 31, 2010 Outside Director Stock Compensation Plan	Dec. 31, 2012 Dividend Reinvestment and Common Stock Purchase Plan
Schedule of Capitalization [Line Items]
Issuance of Common Stock		$ 27,800			$ 27,928
Public offering, price per share		$ 15.21
Issuance of Common Stock in a public offering, shares		1,900,000
Common Stock, Shares Authorized																									2,300,000
Authorized shares under plan			300																			87,429
Dividend Reinvestment & Common Stock Purchase Plan, cumulative shares																									2,100,000
Common stock granted and issued under plan																						5,768	3,833	1,416
Issuance of shares under the DRP			1,587	1,504	1,917
Preferred stock dividends in arrears			0
Shares repurchased in the period																			93
Shares issued upon conversion																				12	13.714
Percentage of stock that may be redeemed in a given calander year																				10.00%
Repayment of first mortgage bonds	57,500							51,500	6,000
Proceeds from refinance of first mortgage bonds	57,500
Long term debt, face amount						57,600				3,900	4,000	3,000	900		2,800	1,600
Premium on debt							2,200
Interest rate												0.00%			3.75%	3.75%
Interest rate, minimum													2.00%
Interest rate, maximum													5.00%
Maturity date												Aug. 01, 2031	Aug. 01, 2031		Jul. 01, 2031	Nov. 30, 2030
Weighted average interest rate			4.34%	5.13%
Long term debt, outstanding			131,467	132,167										10,200			61,400	31,200
Deobligated principal payments			255	560
Other long term debt			47,700	49,300
Customer advances			$ 21,990	$ 21,944