Boil Water Advisory In North Caldwell After Main Break (UPDATED)

NORTH CALDWELL, NJ — A water main break affected parts of North Caldwell and spurred a boil water advisory on Wednesday, authorities said.

The Borough of North Caldwell issued the following notice at 8:18 a.m.:

“A water outage is affecting the Hilltop portion of North Caldwell. Low pressure may affect other parts of town. The North Caldwell Water Department is working to re-establish water service as soon as possible.”

The borough later noted that a boil water advisory has been issued, adding that "electrical issues" are complicating the repairs.

According to town officials:

"The North Caldwell Water Department is providing notification that a water main break and subsequent electrical issues on the Passaic Valley Water Commission system has caused customers within portions of our service to be without water or experience a significant loss of pressure. A potential or actual threat to the quality of water being provided to you currently exists. As a precaution, we are implementing a Limited Boil Water Advisory until testing of the water supply is deemed satisfactory."

The impacted service area includes Arbor Road, Courter Lane, Glenview Road, Ferndale Road, Four Seasons Drive, Harvest Lane, Hill Street, Hilltop Drive and Sagamore Drive.

"Effective immediately and until further notice, customers within the impacted service area are instructed to bring tap water to a rolling boil for one minute and allow the tap water to cool before using, or use bottled water," officials said.

"Boiled or bottled water should be used for drinking; preparing foods; mixing baby formula, food, juices or drinks; washing vegetables and fruit; cooking; making ice; brushing teeth; and washing dishes until further notice," officials said, adding that boiling kills bacteria and other organisms in the water.

The following measures are also being recommended:

• Throw away uncooked food or beverages or ice cubes made with tap water during the day of the advisory
• Keep boiled water in the refrigerator for drinking
• Do not swallow water while showering or bathing
• Rinse hand-washed dishes with a diluted bleach solution (one tablespoon of household bleach per gallon of tap water) or clean your dishes in a dishwasher using the hot wash cycle and dry cycle
• Do not use home filtering devices in place of boiling or using bottled water; most home water filters will not provide adequate protection from microorganisms
• Use only boiled water to treat minor injuries
• Provide pets with drinking water that has been boiled (and cooled)

"Please continue to boil your water or use bottled water until you are notified that the water quality is satisfactory," North Caldwell officials said. "This advisory will remain in effect until repairs are completed and testing shows the water quality to be safe."

For more information, contact 973-228-6410, ext. 132.

North Caldwell officials issued another update at 4:45 p.m., noting that all residents should conserve water until further notice. That includes turning off lawn sprinklers and limiting non-essential water use.

Officials continued:

"The ongoing water disruption in the Borough is the result of a series of system failures at the Passaic Valley Water Commission in which a pipe at their treatment facility broke and flooded certain electronic equipment. This event has disrupted the water supply to residents on the Hilltop System (Arbor Road, Courter Lane, Glenview Road, Ferndale Road, Four Seasons Drive, Harvest Lane, Hill Street, Hilltop Drive and Sagamore Drive.) The Borough immediately implemented emergency water service to the Hilltop System through an emergency connection with the North Caldwell System until Passaic Valley Water Commission can restore their facilities. Until such time, the North Caldwell System is supplying water to both systems. For this reason, your efforts to conserve water are greatly appreciated."

"The Passaic Valley Water Commission continues to work on repairs to their control system in an effort to fully restore their system," North Caldwell officials said.

All Hilltop area residents remain under a boil water advisory until the system is restored to its normal operations, officials added.

North Caldwell residents affected by the boil water advisory can visit the North Caldwell Fire Department for bottled water on a first-come, first-served basis. A limited supply of bottled water will be distributed to residents living in the area serviced by the Hilltop Water Service until 9 p.m. on Wednesday or until supplies last.

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