State of emergency in effect for Glen Ridge and Montclair due to days-long water main break

Both Glen Ridge and Montclair are now in a state of emergency with concerns that they could run out of water.

News 12 Staff

Oct 9, 2022, 10:32 PM

Updated 563 days ago

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A state of emergency is in effect for two New Jersey towns following a water main break that occurred Wednesday night.
Sunday marked day five since the main break happened in Nutley near the intersection of Bloomfield Avenue and Knox Place that affected neighboring towns.
Both Glen Ridge and Montclair are now in a state of emergency with concerns that they could run out of water.
This has been ongoing since Wednesday night when a line operated by North Jersey District Water Supply Commission experienced a break on a 100-year-old, 74-inch line.
The break also interrupted service on a Newark Water main.
At least three counties and some 300,000 residents have been impacted by the main break.
Both Montclair and Glen Ridge residents have been asked to curb their water use. Nonessential water use is prohibited.
Montclair is now relying on neighboring towns like Cedar Grove, Verona, Clifton and East Orange to help meet their water needs .
"What you're looking at here is one of many connections we're making with a number of neighboring towns," said Montclair Mayor Sean Spiller. "This is a huge one to Passaic Valley Water Commission line we're feeding as you see into our pumping station which will go in."
There were also similar efforts in Glen Ridge.
"We have here a fire truck from the Township of Bloomfield staffed by the Montclair Fire Department utilizing water from the City of East Orange," said Glen Ridge Borough Administrator Michael Zichelli.
The townships also received assistance from New Jersey American Water Company.
As crews continued repairs Sunday night, officials offered advice on how residents can reduce their water usage.
"Make sure your lawn sprinklers are off. That's really the number one thing if you need to do. Laundry, wait 'til you have a full load," said Glen Ridge Borough Administrator Michael Zichelli. He also recommended that residents refrain from using water around dinner time and wait until late evening instead so that the water systems remain steady.
As of Sunday night, Bloomfield remained under a boil water advisory. According to the mayor, the township is working with NJ DEP and have started taking water samples to be sent to the lab for approval to get off the boil water advisory.
And on Sunday night, two more towns were feeling the effects of the water main break. Bayonne and Kearny both asked its residents to conserve water as these repairs continued.
There's no estimated time on when the water main break could be fixed.


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