Water Pipe Bursts on Saddle River Road, Saps Residents' Water Pressure

Crews worked through the night Sunday to repair a water main break on Saddle River Road that reduced water pressure in nearby homes for about 10 hours.

Borough engineer Ken Garrison said that an eight-inch pipe burst around 6 p.m. Sunday, lifting the road.

"This wasn’t just a crack in the pipe, it was a section of pipe, so it raised the road up and there was some water that came out of the ground," he said, calling the break "nothing major."

The area of the road lifted was about six feet wide by 10 feet long, which is approximately the amount that would have been excavated anyways, Garrison said. It took about 10 hours to repair an approximately six foot section of the pipe and return water to residents.

Garrison said the break was likely caused by a combination of things including the cold temperature and the age of the pipe.

"We're certainly going to have more [breaks] for the rest of the winter, we’re entering that season," he said. "So far we’ve been pretty fortunate."

A number of residents expressed concern that they did not receive notification of the water main break, but Garrison explained that the borough only uses the reverse-911 system for very serious problems.

"We don’t want to be putting out 911s when they are of basically routine things that happen in the course of the operation of the system," he said.

If residents lose water pressure and have questions or concerns, there's a 24-hour hotline that goes directly to the water department. The number to call is 201-794-5374.

"If they want to talk to somebody about it, somebody's there," Garrison said. "[The operator] can specifically tell the residents what area is being affected and what it’s from." 

Garrison also cautioned residents not to be alarmed if their water appears dirty after a water main break, because despite the aesthetically unpleasant nature of dirty water, it does not pose any health threat.