Over Labor Day weekend, Hopewell Borough residents were urged to conserve water after a water-main break disrupted the New Jersey American Water (NJAW) supply to people in the borough.
The borough was not the only municipality with residents and businesses affected. Parts of Princeton and Montgomery Township also experienced disruptions.
According to NJAW, there was a 16-inch water-main break on Route 206 between Washington Street and Princeton Avenue, Montgomery.
Residents had been issued an urgent message from the borough on Sept. 1 about the need to conserve as much water as they can until the service was restored and warned that the borough could run out of water before service returned.
“NJAW has experienced a major water-main break in the Princeton area which has interrupted approximately 60% of the water supply to Hopewell Borough,” the message said. “NJAW is working to repair the leak as quickly as possible but does not know how soon service will be restored.”
Hopewell Borough’s one operating well cannot produce enough water to meet our demand and it is possible we could run out of water before NJAW restores water service to our system, the message added.
Residents were to limit their water use to cooking and essential uses such as toilets, not do laundry unless it was absolutely necessary, and told not to do activities as washing cars and outside watering.
The Montgomery Health Department stated advised retail food establishments affected by the main break on Route 206 had been advised to temporarily close on Sept. 1 including Princeton Fitness & Wellness Cafe, Midori Sushi, Bagel Barn, Alfonsos, Tript Foods, Sweet Gourmet Bakery, Burger King, and Midpoint Grill.
On Sept. 2, residents were informed that the NJAW water-main had been repaired but pressure to the interconnection serving the borough has not yet been restored. They were urged to continue following the efforts provided to conserve water.
By Sept. 3, the borough lifted the emergency water restriction after midnight.