Cloudy Water In Belleville? Here’s What Happened, Officials Say

BELLEVILLE, NJ — The City of Newark recently released a water advisory about “high turbidity” that also impacts Belleville. The issue – which can cause cloudy water – has no harmful health effects, officials said.

Several Essex County towns, including Belleville, buy water from Newark, which saw periods of high turbidity on Sept. 20, 25 and 26.

The Newark Water Department said it corrected the problem – a “valve failure” – on Sept. 26. Officials issued a statement about the issue, noting that turbidity and chlorine levels came back to normal ranges on Sept. 26 and met disinfection requirements.

Read the full advisory here.

On Monday, the Belleville Water Department issued its own public notice about the issue (see it here).

The notice partly read:

"The Belleville Water Department is required, as a purchaser of treated water from the Newark Water Department, to provide notice to our customers that Newark violated a drinking water requirement. Although at this time this is not an emergency, as our customers, you have a right to know what happened, what you should do, and what the Newark Water Department did to correct this situation."

A similar notice was issued in Bloomfield on Wednesday, which also purchases water from Newark.

• See related article: Bloomfield Continues Making Major Improvements To Water System

Newark’s issues with lead contamination – which are unrelated to the recent turbidity advisory – have begun to turn the corner, officials have reported.

The average lead levels in Newark's water have fallen below 15 parts per billion, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's benchmark of an "acceptable level," and the city has replaced the majority of its 18,000 aging, lead-lined service pipes, one of the main culprits of the contamination.

• See related article: Newark Lead Water Update: City Has Now Replaced 15,000 Pipes
• See related article: Newark's New Way Of Fighting Lead Will Benefit Nearby Essex Towns

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