Lacey Township officials address residents’ concerns about water quality issues

A letter to residents referenced potential lead contamination, but the MUA said that there is no reason to be concerned about any water quality issues.

Isabel Litterst

May 2, 2024, 12:20 AM

Updated 166 days ago

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Lacey Township residents say they are concerned about a notice they received that said their water had failed to pass state quality regulations.
"It was a little alarming to get it,” said resident Chris Sedeyn. "You know, I've got a 12-year-old daughter. It said that it causes a bunch of problems."
Some Lacey residents said that they had murky water on Tuesday.
They were concerned that this was evidence of a water quality issue.
The Municipal Utilities Authority (MUA) held a meeting Wednesday and addressed these concerns. They said the brown water was unrelated and caused by a problem with a fire hydrant that had been fixed.
The letter referenced potential lead contamination, but the MUA said that there is no reason to be concerned about any water quality issues. The board members said that they were required to send that letter- without explanation - after they learned of the noncompliance issue last month.
According to the town's own regular testing, they always met state standards for pH levels.
"We are confident that we were always in compliance with New Jersey DEP water quality parameters pH levels,” said MUA director Ed Woolf.
Woolf said the state upped the requirement for safe pH levels, and Lacey Township fell just below that mark in the independent report.
The board is also disputing the report that triggered the mandatory state-issued letter of noncompliance.
“We do not believe the results submitted by the contracted laboratory were accurate," Woolf said.
Township officials said that they were only made aware of this noncompliance last month.