Belleville Releases Latest Water Quality Report: See The Data

BELLEVILLE, NJ — Wondering where your water comes from in Belleville, or whether it’s “safe” to drink? Answers to that question are available in the township’s latest water quality report, which was released this week.

“Belleville is committed to providing a reliable supply of safe, quality drinking water to its residents,” town officials state in an advisory. “The purpose of this report is to provide you, our customer, with information on the sources of your drinking water. This report will also describe the water treatment process and explain what potential substances may be found in drinking water.”

“Health information and a listing of the amounts of detected substances and how they compare to the state and federal regulations are also provided,” officials noted.

The full report can be seen online here.

Belleville town officials provided the following summary of the current data, which covers 2023:

“This report confirms that your drinking water is safe. However, as you may know, in the past, the Township was experiencing issues with the monitoring schedule for the following contaminants: water quality parameters (orthophosphate). Also, we experienced issues with excursions from the optimal water quality parameter control values. In these situations, you have been notified of the violations, what the Belleville Water Department is doing to remediate these issues, as well as, what actions you should be taking as a consumer of our water. We are actively implementing improvements to our water system to provide you with a better quality of drinking water, i.e., Newark has made treatment modifications to reduce the levels of disinfection by-products; hydrant flushing and revised sampling procedures to reduce positive total coliform results; and, Newark has eliminated silica and is now utilizing zinc orthophosphate for corrosion control which coats the lead pipes and fixtures to prevent lead from corroding and leaching into our drinking water thus lowering lead levels. Finally, the Township submitted one Remedial Measures Report due to the said water quality parameter excursions.”

Results of all of Belleville Township water sampling can be reviewed at the NJDEP Drinking Water Watch website.

WHERE DOES BELLEVILLE’S WATER COME FROM?

According to the municipal water report, here’s where the town’s water supply comes from:

“Belleville Township purchases treated surface water from the Newark Water Department through four interconnections located on Passaic Avenue, Hilton Street, Joralemon Street, and Belleville Avenue. Newark withdraws water from the Pequannock Watershed in West Milford, New Jersey and treats it at the Pequannock Water Treatment Plant. Water quality monitoring stations are operated by the U.S. Geological Survey upstream of the Pequannock WTP intake at the Charlotteburg Reservoir and Oak Ridge Reservoir. These monitoring stations provide continuous data for important water quality parameters, and, help provide advanced warning of adverse changes in water quality. Emergency connections with another purveyor, Nutley, exist within the system.”

For more information, contact the Belleville Water Department at 973-450-3414.

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