New Jersey American Water banned outdoor water use and is asking residents of several Monmouth County municipalities to only use water for essential reasons, according to spokesman Richard G. Barnes.
A water main failure around 12:45 p.m. at the Swimming River Reservoir has caused water outages in parts of Holmdel, and could potentially affect up to 55,000 users in the region, said Barnes.
The mains collapsed at at the company’s Swimming River Water Treatment Plant in Tinton Falls, on the Middletown border.
The households that can be directly affected are in Middletown, Holmdel, Aberdeen, Highlands, Sea Bright, Rumson, Fair Haven, Little Silver, Oceanport, Shrewsbury, the northern part of Tinton Falls and parts of Long Branch.
Customers in those areas are being advised to boil water as a precaution for a full minute and let cool before drinking it, said Barnes, adding that is standard procedure whenever water pressure is lost. New Jersey American Water will provide information as to when the advisory is lifted, he said.
New Jersey American Water and the Monmouth County OEM have established three water distribution locations where customers may go to receive bottled water. The locations are open 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Saturday:
- Middletown High School North, 63 Tindall Road, Middletown
- Middletown High School South, 900 Nut Swamp Road, Middletown
- Wolf Hill Park, 3 Crescent Place, Oceanport
Brookdale Community College's Lincroft campus closed at 2 p.m. Friday, and a message on their Facebook page says it "will remain closed until further notice."
Holmdel Police say as many as 3,000 people could be without water in southern Holmdel on Friday afternoon. One of them, Kim Casola of Holmdel, said she saw helicopters, numerous police officers and a diving team in the water at the site of the broken footbridge. "The entire mid-section of pipes are like crumpled debris in the water below," she said. Mobile command centers from Middletown Township Police and the Monmouth County Office of Emergency Management are set up alongside the reservoir.
NJ American Water is asking customers in the towns it serves to conserve water inside and outside their homes while the company works on temporary measures to alleviate the situtation. They have issued Code Red alerts to affected users and township OEMs. Non-essential use, including the use of outdoor sprinklers, is discouraged.
Shortly after 3 p.m. Oceanport's OEM issued a phone alert to residents. This message is listed on the borough web site: "6/29/12 NJ American Water is reporting a disruption in the delivery system supplying Oceanport and the surrounding area with water. Please refrain from any unnecessary water use until further notice."
Neighboring Marlboro Township is not affected, as it is serviced by Gordon's Corner Water and the Municipal Water Authority. Hazlet Township is served by Shorelands Water at this time of year.
New Jersey American Water recommends the following steps:
• Throw away uncooked food or beverages or ice cubes if made with tap water during the day of the advisory;
• Keep boiled water in the refrigerator for drinking;
• Rinse hand-washed dishes for a minute in diluted bleach (one tablespoon of household bleach per gallon of tap water) or clean your dishes in a dishwasher using the hot wash cycle and dry cycle.
• Do not swallow water while you are showering or bathing;
• Provide pets with boiled water after cooling;
• Do not use home filtering devices in place of boiling or using bottled water; most home water filters will not provide adequate protection from microorganisms;
• Use only boiled water to treat minor injuries.
We received our first reverse 911 call from Holmdel at about 7:45 pm. The time-lag meant that we used ice cubes and made coffee with potentially tainted water. I understand "the fog of war", but in a potential public health crisis, the Town has to do a better job of getting the word out faster.
I live in Northern Holmdel. Though I remain a bit leery of drinking the tap water (it's part of my DNA), it looks like we're off the hook boiling-wise.
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/15/us/15water.html?pagewanted=all
We followed through on your suggestion to check in on area grocers. Here's who has water and who doesn't: http://holmdel-hazlet.patch.com/articles/finding-bottled-water-in-monmouth-county Restaurants are included in county's boil water advisory for 22 towns. I don't have information on the length of time restrictions will be in place at this time, but will provide that information as soon as we do. Patch has a reporter covering Gov. Christie's press conference this afternoon and if an information on a timeline is given there, we will let you know.
We can't blame NJAW for 'ignoring' damage that Irene may have caused, because they did hire a consultant to inspect it after Irene. Maybe there was corrosion or rot or vandalism after that, or maybe their consultant just wasn't very good, but whatever the reason, neglect of Irene by NJAW wasn't it.
Before the break the treatment plant was pumping out probably 35 - 45 million gallons of water per day. The break shut them down. So where do their customers get their water now? From neighboring utilities, through interconnecting valves with NJAW. But there's no way they can make up the difference unless all their customers conserve too. Thus, the whole county, even people who think they're completely separate from NJAW, needs to conserve, for the sake of hospitals, firefighting, day-care centers, etc. in the whole area. It has nothing to do with their water's safety, just the overall supply shortage. The Boil-Water order comes about when the water pressure drops in your neighborhood supply pipes. Without inside pressure, ground water around the underground pipes could seep in, and bring harmful bacteria with it. You can kill off this bacteria, if it happens to be present, by boiling your water (if you have any, of course). Since you can't tell just by looking at the water whether these bacteria are present, it's prudent to put out a Boil Water order to any neighborhood that experienced low pressure. This wouldn't affect the neighboring communities like the Conservation order would, because they didn't get the low-pressure event.
Both Matawan and Aberdeen offer a reverse 911 emergency notification system, but you have to give them your phone number. Numbers are populated from the phone book also, but this is more effective in terms of making sure all numbers are correct and current. Here's how to sign up: http://patch.com/A-vF54 I personally chose to sign up with my cell phone number. I received a call on Friday. I also chose to sign up in both towns, since I live on the border.
http://www.amwater.com/forms/cr-feedback.aspx
With the storms that hit last night from the east coast into Ohio, the new day brings with it many more challenges of rain, fire, heat and humidity. A wonderful woman I know from church is still trying to reach her son, whose neighborhood is cut off from all land and wireless communications. I suspect that the good folks of Monmouth County appreciate quite well that things could be much worse. I thank God for the blessings of community, and the generosity that begets generosity. My prayers are with our communities both local and to the south Jersey shore, whose fuller needs will only be revealed as we get more eyes on the ground.
Going back tomorrow and the next day and ...
That parkway notification -- with no towns listed -- simply added to the panic.
According to their website, http://www.keansburgboro.com/, Keansburg is not affected by the water ban... I copied the info off their page... AN IMPORTANT MESSAGE ABOUT YOUR WATER QUALITY UPDATED June 30, 2012 Keansburg IS NOT effected by the NJAmerican Water Company water main failure. Keansburg's water supply is from the Borough Wells which are NOT effected by the water emergency and restrictions being experienced in neighboring communites. Keansburg residents DO NOT have to boil water at this time.