Nutley literally boils over after water main is fixed

By Patrick Bober, Managing Editor
Last week, a water emergency in Nutley brought unnecessary usage to a standstill and had residents boiling their water before drinking it.
In the middle of the day on Aug. 24, the main supplier for Nutley Township, the Passaic Valley Water Commission, experienced a water main break in one of their 51-inch pipes in Clifton. The result led to a host of problems for residents.
“The pressure was low,” said Public Works Commissioner Joseph Scarpelli. “At times, some people had no pressure at all.”
According to the commissioner, the break in the pipe occurred early in the afternoon on Aug. 24 and was not fully repaired until the middle of the following Saturday.
The break was located where there had recently been some maintenance work, although Scarpelli said Passaic Valley Water Commission was not sure of the cause of the break.
“It looks like that area was used for maintenance in the past,” said Scarpelli. “It was too clean a break.”
According to the commission, the rupture resulted in approximately 40 million gallons of lost water, particularly bad news during the ongoing voluntary water conservation urged by the state.
According to a release by the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection on July 6, “while reservoir levels are still relatively high, current summer water demand combined with weather factors are starting to have an impact.” Voluntary conservation remains in effect.
In addition to low or non-existent pressure during the water emergency in Nutley, many residents may have also experienced discolored water and were urged to avoid washing clothes for the duration of the problem.
News of the water emergency was spread quickly by Nutley and the Department of Public Works. Scarpelli utilized the town’s online emergency update system which allows e-mail, Twitter and text messages to be sent to any residents who have signed up through the township website at www.nutleynj.org.
“Although, daily updates were circulated through the televised media, press, various websites, and our C3 Alert System,” said Scarpelli in a written statement, “it was impossible to reach everyone.”
Scarpelli encouraged every resident to join the C3 alert system. Those without Internet access can call to join the system.

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