Township Wants Answers from Ridgewood Water

The Township Committee would like answers from Ridgewood Water after some residents claimed to have not received notice from the utility about a boil-water advisory this weekend.

Mayor Rudy Boonstra said he's trying to get in touch with Frank Moritz, the director of operations, to either appear before the governing body or a subcommittee of members to discuss the utility's procedures when such notifications have to go out to the public.

"We need to understand what if any procedures broke down," Boonstra said.

The advisory to boil water before drinking lasted approximately 55 hours, starting late afternoon on Friday and continuing until 10 p.m. Saturday.

The warning affected customers throughout Ridgewood Water's customer base, including all of Ridgewood and Glen Rock and specific sections of Midland Park and Wyckoff. In Wyckoff, Bush Lane, Goffle Road, Hopper Avenue and Ravine Court and Ravine Avenue (between Hopper Avenue and Goffle Road) were affected—but not necessarily notified.

Moritz said that a Reverse 911 call was not issued to Wyckoff customers, as there were "so few homes" impacted by the advisory. Instead, he said utility employees went door-to-door on the affected streets on Friday, dropping off notices warning people to boil water.

Not so, according to township Committeeman Brian Scanlan, who lives just a few doors outside of the affected zone. 

Scanlan became aware of the situation on Saturday and contacted Ridgewood Water, saying he was assured that all residents were notified. However, on Sunday, Scanlan said he "discovered that nobody had been contacted" after talking to neighbors in the affected area. While a few had heard about the situation through the media, none had contact from Ridgewood Water, he said.

Police Chief Benjamin Fox said his department fielded numerous calls from residents who believed the whole township may have been under a boil-water advisory. The chief said his department wasn't notified of the situation until it became public knowledge.

The committeeman created a flier alerting residents of the situation and went door to door, ringing bells to talk to residents and leaving the fliers behind if homeowners weren't available. He discontinued his efforts after several hours after seeing Ridgewood Water personnel in the area, almost two days after the alert was issued. Fox said he personally spoke with Moritz and requested the flier campaign.

"They simply have to improve the way they notify people," Scanlan said.

"We would have hoped that Ridgewood Water would have done a better job," Boonstra said.

Moritz said utility staff "know the practice" and distributed fliers both Friday and Monday morning, after the advisory was lifted at 11 p.m. Sunday.

Moritz said that the prolonged advisory stemmed from ambiguous tests conducted over the weekend.

At 3:30 p.m. Friday, Ridgewood Water issued the warning after a loss of water pressure in an area in downtown Ridgewood. The utility was required to report the incident to state and water officials and conduct tests ensuring water safety. Until water was deemed safe, residents were instructed to boil their water.

Eight of 10 initial tests passed Saturday, Moritz said, but two came back "not looking like they should."

In a weekend announcement, the village said several "anomalies" were detected in the initial sampling. Moritz said today no specific bacteria were present, but further tests were needed before the advisory was lifted.

As the two-day warning wore on Moritz said no serious ingestion incidents were reported. "As a supplier to 10,000 costumers, you're going to have a couple, but there's nothing you can directly attach" to the advisory.

While conducting flow tests in Ridgewood, Ridgewood Water closed an isolation valve, according to a company statement, to "direct flow along a specific pipe, and a hydrant was opened to induce water flow."

However, water flow was cut off to the hydrant. Moritz attributed the lack of water to another closed isolation valve, and the problem was remedied quickly. 

As a drop in pressure can potentially allow bacteria to enter, the utility had to conduct water quality tests. Lab results take 24 hours to be returned. Following the anomalies, a resampling needed to occur—thus another 24-hour warning.

Now, Ridgewood Water will evaluate the incident.

"Basically, we go over our movements and try to make sure this doesn't happen again," Moritz said. "But with a water system there's sometimes problems." 

Fox said the police department did not receive any reports of residents falling ill from drinking unboiled water.