WOODLAND PARK, N.J. (CBSNewYork) -A boil water advisory has finally been lifted for tens of thousands of residents in northern New Jersey.
The advisory had been in effect since Hurricane Ida devastated the area six weeks ago.
“It’s safe to turn the tap back on. Brush your teeth, take a shower, drink the water as well,” said Paterson Mayor Andre Sayegh.
As CBS2’s Natalie Duddridge reports, a group of elected officials assured 250,000 residents in their jurisdictions that tap water is once again safe to drink without having to boil it first.
“I want to say thank you to you for having the patience with us to make sure we could get this reservoir back online,” said Paterson Councilwoman Ruby Cotton.
On Sept. 1, Hurricane Ida brought torrential rainfall that overflowed and contaminated the new street reservoir, affecting 52 million gallons of water that supplies Paterson, Passaic, parts of Woodland Park and Clifton.
For week, residents have been waiting in lines for free bottled water or boiling it.
“We have to have clean water to drink as a human being,” said Woodland Park resident Karim Alfauri.
“I don’t even give it to my dog. Give my dog bottled water,” said Vinny Bellofatto.
To fix the problem, officials with the Passaic Valley Water Commission pumped fresh water into the New Street Reservoir daily for more than two weeks. The PVWC operates three of six remaining open water reserves in the country. Officials say an upgrade is greatly needed to reduce contamination risks.
“We need to replace our water reservoirs with enclosed tanks,” said Louis Amodio, interim business administrator of PVWC. “We know, with climate change and other economic issues that are going on that we cannot control, this could happen again, unfortunately.”
Cleanup from Ida is expected to cost the PVWC more than $1 million.
from CBS New York https://ift.tt/2Izr88c
