Nyack Alert: Drinking Water Violates Standards

The Village of Nyack has issued an alert to let the public know about a recent violation of drinking water standards.

On Feb. 19, village water samples showed elevated levels of Trihalomethanes -- byproducts that result from an interaction between the chlorine required for disinfection to create safe potable water, and naturally occurring organic matter in the water.

After receiving the results of samples from the first quarter of 2016, Nyack Water calculated the average that applies to the regulation on Thursday, and notified the Department of Health that the annual average exceeded the allowable concentration, village officials said.

Officials also consulted with county health officials on plans to investigate the problem and restore compliance.

When present at elevated levels over many years, TTHM may cause health problems, officials said.

• There is nothing you need to do. You do not need to boil your water or take other corrective actions. If a situation arises where the water is no longer safe to drink, you will be notified within 24 hours.
• If you have a severely compromised immune system, have an infant, are pregnant, or are elderly, you may be at increased risk and should seek advice from your health care providers about drinking this water.

Village officials said in their public notice:

We are working to minimize the formation of TTHM’s while ensuring we maintain an adequate level of disinfectant. We are taking steps in an effort to reduce natural organic matter, and thus reduce the precursors of TTHM formation. We will also increase flushing within the distribution system to reduce or avoid one of the mechanisms controlling their formation (water aging). We will be testing again after we initiate these practices to determine if our efforts were successful and following up with further actions as warranted.

For more information, please contact our Water Department Superintendent, Harry Williams at 845-358-3734 or write to Nyack Water Department, 9 North Broadway, Nyack, NY 10960 and/or Rockland County Department of Health at 845-364-2608.

Read the entire village notice here.

Learn more about TTHMs here.