Residents Following Watering Rules, Utility Chief Says

Resident compliance with Ridgewood Water restrictions has than summer of 2012, according to utility director Frank Moritz.

Stage II restrictions for ratepayers in Ridgewood, Glen Rock, Wyckoff and Midland Park after months of drought had .

The declaration stipulates that irrigations is prohibited on Mondays and residents must follow an odd-even scheduled for watering during the remainder of the week.

In a conversation on Wednesday, Moritz said he can't remember a year in which residents were more cooperative.

Thanks to rain and a largely cooperative public, water tanks are at about 80 percent capacity, Moritz said.

A major step in messaging the public was the implementation of Swiftreach, which sends alerts out to residents' cell phones, Moritz said.  

Of course, it doesn't mean all abide by the regulations. Even the when it shouldn't have.

Police, neighbors and Ridgewood Water personnel document instances of those often seen breaking the rules, the utility director said.

"We have a pretty good idea who they are," Moritz said of frequent violators.

Still, summonses issued to violators are rare. Officials have said they prefer a 'soft' approach to "educate" residents on the dos and dont's of lawn watering. 

"We'd like to amass a list and send letters," Moritz said. "It's a gentle way of letting them know we know [they violate restrictions]."

There's another incentive to keeping the tank levels high — fines.

As first reported by Patch, the utility was in 2010. Another in 2011 is expected. Ridgewood Water will be fighting the penalties, officials have said.

Stage II restrictions remain in place and will continue until further notice, Moritz said.

Moritz also spoke about a "glitch" in the company's phone system that caused calls to Ridgewood Water to fail.

The issue began "a few weeks ago" and was fixed on Tuesday by Verizon, Moritz said.

During that period customers seem to have have been unable to contact anyone within the utility company. On the customer's end, phone calls placed to Ridgewood Water's number simply rang and rang to no avail.

Moritz said the problem has been fixed and customers who need to contact the utility for customer service issues should call 201-652-3692.

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