SOUTH RIVER – After residents reported discolored water in their homes, South River officials held an emergency meeting and met with professionals to address the issue.
Mayor John Krenzel said in a July 15 statement that because the discolored water affected a significant portion of the borough on July 14, an emergency meeting of professionals and municipal employees was held on July 15.
“Everyone knows a meeting does not solve a problem, but it is good to define a problem,” Krenzel said. “The discolored water is being caused by something and that something must be addressed.
“To simplify, water passes through pipes. It leaves sediment in the pipes. That sediment can clog the pipes, which is why twice a year the fire hydrants are opened, the water and sediment rushes out and the neighborhood has discolored water for a few hours,” he said.
“When anything disturbs the pipes, the pipes release the sediment and the water becomes discolored. The opening of a fire hydrant, fighting a fire, heavy truck traffic or a broken pipe can all disturb the pipes,” the mayor said.
Krenzel said that during the emergency meeting, the participants discussed the reasons for the discolored water.
“Normally, if the water is discolored, it happens on a course that follows the town’s oldest water pipe from the Department of Public Works down Whitehead Avenue, up Reid and Prospect streets, and all the side streets from them,” Krenzel said.
“On July 14, the discoloration was everywhere. There are several reasons. One was that there was heavy use of water during the weekend (July 13-14); ‘heavy’ as in hundreds of thousands of gallons more than usual. This would have disturbed the pipes throughout town,” he said.
Krenzel said it is unclear why so much water was used on those days, but he said the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) was demolishing houses on July 12 as part of the Blue Acres program and opening fire hydrants at full blast to spray the demolition sites to keep down the dust.
“All this is well and good, but what can be done? Two tracks were set: the ‘now’ and the ‘future.’ For now, how we obtain water will be reset to a time when there was little discoloration,” Krenzel said.
“We have been pulling more water from our pumps … than we have done in the past. We will take more water from East Brunswick and less from our wells. This will return the water system to what it was,” the mayor said.
Krenzel said fire hydrants will not be opened at full blast. He said if there is a problem with water discoloration, a fire hydrant would be opened, but not fully opened. While that would take more time and more water to clear the water, he said it would not upset the sediment in other parts of the system.
As to the future track, Krenzel said a consultant would examine the water utility and make recommendations. Before that, officials are looking at possible iron buildup and the pumps. The iron is what discolors the water.
“The DEP has received complaints and has strongly recommended that a ‘dirty water advisory’ be issued by the town. This means that as the water clears, you should run water faucets for three to five minutes to flush the service connection and interior plumbing,” he said, adding that addressing the issue is a priority for borough officials.
“People should also empty and clean their automatic ice makers and water chillers. There is no need to boil the water because recent bacteria tests were all negative,” Krenzel said.
No update on the water situation in South River was available as of July 22.
For more information, visit www.southrivernj.org or call 732-257-1999.
Contact Vashti Harris at [email protected].