Trenton Water Works: Please use less water for now
TRENTON» Customers of Trenton Water Works, including those in the suburbs, should use the bare minimum of the service until further notice.
The New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection on Saturday issued a press release urging Trenton Water Works ratepayers to curtail water use due to “operational issues” that have resulted in low water flow at the TWW plant.
Trenton Water Works, in coordination with partner municipalities, has also requested customers to voluntarily curtail their water use due to the low water flow problem. TWW services customers in the capital city, Ewing Township and portions of Hamilton, Hopewell and Lawrence townships.
The city on Friday published a notice on its website urging customers to limit all water uses and refrain from any nonessential uses of water.
The city anticipates a recovery to normal operations but warned it could potentially take “several days” for the low water flow issue to be rectified. In the meantime, the city in its notice suggests that “customer conservation will be necessary until further notice.”
Trenton Water Works has made negative headlines earlier this year, including for issues involving elevated lead levels.
Over the summer, the City of Trenton sent out notification letters to residents because more than 10 percent of 119 samples of water tested above the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) acceptable lead level of 15 parts per billion (ppb) from Jan. 1 until June 30, which was a violation of the Lead & Copper Rule. Fourteen homes, including six from Trenton, four from Hamilton, three from Lawrence and one from Ewing, were above the threshold, according to information provided by DEP. The highest level tested was 106 ppb from a residence in Trenton.
The New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection earlier this year found numerous safe drinking water violations that prompted the capital city’s boil advisory in June.
In a DEP letter dated July 21 that was obtained by The Trentonian, the state agency reported that an incident evaluation from the June 5 boil advisory in Trenton uncovered “technical, managerial, and operational deficiencies” within the Trenton Water Works Water Treatment and Distribution systems “that need to be addressed.”
Trenton was cited for violating the Water Supply and Wastewater Operators’ Licensing Act, the Licensing of Water Supply and Wastewater Treatment System Operators Regulations, the Safe Drinking Water Act, the Safe Drinking Water Act Regulations, the Water Supply Management Act, and the Water Supply Allocation Regulation, states the DEP letter that was signed by A. Raimund Belonzi, the agency’s bureau chief for compliance and enforcement.
The DEP in its press release on Saturday said DEP Commissioner Bob Martin and staff from the department are working closely with TWW leadership and Trenton Mayor Eric Jackson “to providing technical assistance and oversight to TWW.”