Outdoor Water Restrictions Eased; Odd/Even Hose Watering in Place for Monmouth County Customers

Alert Notification From NJ American Water:

Lawn Sprinkler System Use Still Banned for Now as New Jersey American Water Monmouth System is Stabilized

New Jersey American Water has modified the outdoor water ban for all its Monmouth County customers, easing the restrictions that began June 29 when a bridge holding three pipes at the company’s Swimming River Water Treatment Plant collapsed. Customers may now use handheld garden hoses for outdoor purposes, every other day, between the hours of 5 a.m. to 9 a.m., and again from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. With very limited exceptions, lawn sprinkler irrigation system use is still banned. Even with the easing of the ban’s restrictions, New Jersey American Water is strongly advising its Monmouth County customers to continue conserving water both inside and out. If strict conservation measures are not followed then it may be necessary to reinstitute a stringent outdoor water ban.

“Water service is safe and reliable and we are grateful to our customers and the entire Monmouth County community for their cooperation and patience while we worked around the clock to recover from this event.  The temporary piping to bypass the bridge is complete which enables us to restore the water system to near normal capacity.  Conservation is still critical during the current heat wave as even during normal circumstances lawn irrigation places a heavy demand on our system.  It is essential that we do not exceed system capacity as customers restart their outdoor water use,” said Stephen P. Schmitt, vice president of operations for New Jersey American Water. “We are also moving forward on the permanent pipelines to minimize the chance of a similar service disruption happening again. In the meantime, our customers should follow the odd/even guidelines for outdoor watering.”  

The odd/even schedule is effective beginning today and entails:

• Handheld garden hose outdoor water use between the hours of 5 a.m. to 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. to 9 p.m.  on odd-numbered days of the month if your street address is an odd number (i.e., 23 Oak St., 7 Maple Ave.)
• Handheld garden hose outdoor water use between the hours of 5 a.m. to 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. to 9 p.m.  on even-numbered days of the month if your street address is an even number (i.e., 6 Oak St., 354 Maple Ave.)

Exceptions are:

• Watering of new sod or seed if daily watering is required (note: it is recommended that any planting of new sod or seed that has not already taken place be delayed until the fall)
• Use of private wells for irrigation
• Commercial uses of outdoor water, such as for nurseries, farm stands, power washing, plumbing, athletic fields, and car washes

As the system continues to stabilize, customers may experience discolored water. New Jersey American Water recommends running the water until clear. However, the discolored water could be used for the watering of shrubs and garden plants.

For updates, customers visit newjerseyamwater.com or facebook.com/newjerseyamericanwater.

For more information, see our Frequently Asked Questions and Answers.

Water Restrictions Lifted in 18 of 22 Towns; Middletown Still Under Boil Advisory

From NJ American Water

New Jersey American Water, in cooperation with the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection, and the Monmouth County Office of Emergency Management has lifted the precautionary boil water advisory for 18 of the 22 municipalities in Monmouth County which had been under the advisory since a bridge holding three large water mains collapsed at the company’s Swimming River Water Treatment Plant last Friday.

As part of Monmouth County’s declared Water Emergency, all New Jersey American Water customers in Monmouth County remain under an outdoor water use ban. “Water pressure in the system is stabilizing right now, so it is critical that everyone stop all outdoor water use including watering lawns, shrubs or gardens, filling swimming pools, or washing cars,” said Stephen Schmitt, vice president of Operations, New Jersey American Water. “In fact, under the county’s declared water emergency, outdoor water use in Monmouth County is illegal right now, and for good reason.” Recognizing the important nature of the issue, Governor Christie, at his press conference yesterday, committed the support of local authorities to enforce the ban.

The following towns only are no longer advised to boil water prior to consumption:

• Allenhurst Borough
• Deal Borough
• Eatontown Borough
• Fair Haven Borough
• Lake Como Borough
• Little Silver Borough
• Loch Arbor Village
• Long Branch City
• Monmouth Beach Borough
• Neptune Township
• Ocean Township
• Oceanport Borough
• Rumson Borough
• Sea Bright Borough
• Shrewsbury Borough
• Shrewsbury Township
• Tinton Falls Borough
• West Long Branch Borough

“We’d like to thank our customers for their conservation efforts thus far, and the cooperation of state, local officials, and emergency management personnel as we work through these issues,” said Schmitt.

Four towns in Monmouth County that remain under a boil water advisory:

• Aberdeen Township
• Highlands Borough
• Holmdel Township
• Middletown Township.

Until further notice, customers in these four municipalities should bring tap water to a rolling boil for one minute and allow to cool before using for consumption; drinking, ice cubes, washing vegetables and fruit, and for brushing teeth. Please continue to boil your water until you are notified that the water quality is acceptable.

New Jersey American Water also 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.

New Jersey American Water will continue working diligently around the clock in order to resolve the need to boil water in these four municipalities, and will ensure that bottled water is available to them.

“We are pleased that New Jersey American Water is working diligently to resolve this issue,” Monmouth County Freeholder John P. Curley said. “We also remind our residents that the water restrictions remain in effect and that the support and vigilance by residents will get us through this emergency.”  

For updates, customers visit newjerseyamwater.com or facebook.com/newjerseyamericanwater.

Food and Water Watch Hosts Free Informational Seminar on "Fracking" Tomorrow in Red Bank

RED BANK, NJ - Shale gas drilling (fracking) has quickly become one of our nation’s most controversial issues. For the past few years, energy companies have been inflating the number of jobs the natural gas industry will provide, as well as the amount of energy that is available and how long it is projected to last. Meanwhile, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has linked fracking and drilling for natural gas to several cases of water contamination across the country, most recently in Pennsylvania, West Virginia and Wyoming, while the New York Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) admits that fracking could have “significant adverse effects on water resources in the state.”

The New Jersey Legislature passed a ban against fracking, but there are currently no bills in place regarding wastewater disposal or natural gas pipeline construction. In fact, several counties throughout New Jersey are currently deliberating over proposed plans for pipelines and wastewater treatment plants for fracking fluid, and there is no legislation protecting the Garden State from becoming a shale oil transport zone and dumping ground.  Fracking waste is already being received by Lorco Petroleum based in Elizabeth, New Jersey.

New Jersey residents need to get educated on this issue and now is the time to do it!

Join us at the Two River Theater Company for an enlightening and FREE discussion on the growing local, national, and global movements to ban fracking and the harmful impacts that shale gas drilling and processing has on our communities.

This exciting event will feature community leaders and experts who will discuss the local, national, and global response to fracking and what each of us can do to help move us toward a sustainable energy future.

Panelists Include:

Wenonah Hauter, Executive Director, Food & Water Watch Cindy Zipf, Executive Director, Clean Ocean Action Frank Rumore, Coordinator, Fight the Pipe Nikolay Mihaylov, PhD Student, Vanderbilt University, Community Research and Action Program; Liaison to Climate Action Coalition Bulgaria Larysa Dyrszka, M.D., Physicians, Scientists & Engineers for Healthy Energy

Moderated by Bob Jordan, NJ Statehouse Bureau Reporter of New Jersey Press Media. Mr. Jordan has covered state, county and municipal governments for the past 10 years.

This event will feature live music by renowned folk artist, Spook Handy, and local food from et al fine foods!

A special thanks to our hosts whose generous support has made this event possible: Patricia C. Kenshaft PHD, Liz Nelson, Frank Weeden, and Tina Weishaus

RSVP is required: RDawn@fwwlocal.org or register on our site:http://bit.ly/FrackingSolutionsAtTRTC

Tuesday, Mar 27, 2012

6:30 PM - 9:00 PM