TWW customers to receive more water notices

TRENTON >> Trenton Water Works customers in the near future will receive two notices of violation detailing the utility’s latest shortcomings.

“We are going to be issuing two violation notices, one in January, one in February,” TWW spokesperson Michael Walker said Thursday. “One violation notice is going to be because we did not clear up the disinfectant byproducts issue within a year. That really was an unrealistic deadline.”

The New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection in a letter dated Jan. 4 cited the capital city for failing to comply with the New Jersey Safe Drinking Water Act. Specifically, TWW failed to remediate the maximum contaminant level of Haloacetic Acids by the one-year deadline of Dec. 8, 2018, according to the notice of non-compliance.

Haloacetic Acids, also known as HAA5, is a chemical disinfection byproduct of the water treatment process. City officials, including Dr. Shing-Fu Hsueh, director of Trenton’s Department of Water and Sewer, blamed the HAA5 violation on prior administrations and said current Mayor Reed Gusciora is committed to righting the ship of Trenton’s troubled water system.

“The water utility has been delivering a very high-quality drinking water product for many, many, many years,” Walker said, “and it only has fallen in recent years because of missteps by previous administrations. This mayor, Mayor Reed Gusciora, is committed to turning around the public water utility through Dr. Hsueh and also keeping it independent — that means an asset that is wholly owned by the people of Trenton.”

TWW is investing millions of dollars into critical capital projects that will reduce disinfectant byproducts in the drinking water it supplies, Walker said.

Even the best water companies in the state get violation notices from time to time, according to Hsueh. “Nobody is perfect,” he said. “I think we definitely wanted to bring the reputation back, and I know we are still working hard, we are still struggling, but we see there is a potential there. We can get there.”

“I just want to correct something that Dr. Hsueh said,” Walker said as he sat alongside Hsueh at TWW’s administrative offices Thursday. “We are not struggling. The water utility is doing what it is supposed to do every single day. We have a committed 120 employees who show up here every single day and know their jobs, understand how important it is that they do their jobs and they do their jobs in our five-municipality service area and at the plant, which is quite impressive.”

Hsueh, a highly educated water quality expert who formerly served as mayor of West Windsor Township, clarified his statement. “When I said ‘struggling,’ I didn’t mean that sense,” he said. “All I’m saying here is we still have to overcome a lot of perception.”

Trenton Water Works serves ratepayers in the capital city and the townships

of Ewing, Lawrence, Hamilton and Hopewell. Elected officials in the suburban communities have been highly critical of TWW, including Hamilton Mayor Kelly Yaede and New Jersey Assemblyman Wayne DeAngelo.

“People expect miracles,” Hsueh said. “You know my style in politics and management or even in science technologies — it is my habit I like to promise less and deliver more. That’s my style.”

“My style is always transparent,” Hsueh added, “and I say it like it is.”

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency says some people who drink water containing HAA5 in excess of the MCL or maximum contaminant level over many years may have an increased risk of getting cancer, but Hsueh suggested the odds of getting cancer from that are extremely low.

Lead-tainted Water

In addition to Trenton’s failure to remediate HAA5 below excessive levels during a one-year period, the city also will be issuing a notice for violating the federal Lead and Copper Rule, Walker said.

The city has old water piping infrastructure, and many residents in the TWW service area have leaded pipes connected to their homes. These old service lines cause lead to leech into the water supply, posing a risk to public health, according to city officials, who have a solution to the problem.

TWW plans to replace approximately 2,600 lead service lines in the next two years at a cost of $15 million. The average cost for a homeowner to replace a lead service line with an unleaded replacement is $2,500 to $5,000. The city recognizes the cost is expensive and will therefore subsidize the costs for anyone who registers as a participant in the city’s lead service line replacement program at www.twwleadprogram.com.

“We are offering to help to make sure that all they

have to pay is $1,000,” Hsueh said of TWW customers in need of lead service line replacements. “But still, I don’t like it. The reason is we do have a lot of low-income families. Even $500 is too much.”

Hsueh admits he cannot fix the water woes overnight — “I cannot change this overnight or even within six months or one year” — but promises that improvements are being made across the board from infrastructure upgrades to aggressive moves of hiring new employees to fill longstanding vacancies.

“We know the problems, we know the solutions, and we understand what it takes to get there,” Hsueh said, “but again it is not overnight. It is not going to be done in one year or six months.”