As the Sixth Day of the Paterson Water Crisis Goes On, Nearby Towns Step In to Help

The water emergency in Paterson, New Jersey, has been going on for six days now. Other towns have had to step in and share their resources to help the people who are still having trouble with low or no water flow.

August 8 was the first day of the trouble when a big 30-inch water main broke near Hinchliffe Stadium. Almost 200,000 people in Paterson, Haledon, North Haledon, and Prospect Park lost service because of the break. Repair crews have been at work 24/7 to get the line fixed. Most Paterson homes have water back, but several communities distant from the repair location have slow or no water.

People in the worst-hit areas have had to be innovative to deal with the destruction. Recent rainstorms in North Haledon have encouraged residents to leave buckets outside to flush the toilet with the collected water. North Ninth Street in Prospect Park has temporary showers to help people stay clean.

Wayne Sends Haledon a Huge Amount of Water

The township of Wayne has been putting a lot of drinkable water into Haledon’s system to help right away. A hose has been put from a fire station on the edge of William Paterson University’s campus to underground pipes in Haledon so they can be filled up.

Christopher Vergano, the mayor of Wayne, said that the town didn’t think twice about what to do when they found out about the lack. “Right now, we can help them,” he said. “We didn’t think twice when we heard they were in need.”

The neighborhoods that are affected are about a quarter of the service area that the Passaic Valley Water Commission is in charge of. The Commission runs more than 650 miles of pipes in four counties and gets water from both the Passaic River and the Wanaque Reservoir.

People Who Are in Difficulties Get Help from Adjacent Communities

People in Hawthorne, which is close to North Haledon and Prospect Park, have been urged not to water their gardens and to use less water for other activities. Officials claim that these voluntary limits are helping areas that are still having problems get what they need.

Local leaders informed the people, “We can’t fix this problem, but if we all work together, we can make things better for the people who were hurt by the water main break.” They commended Hawthorne for always being there for others when they needed aid.

Bergen County is Affected by the Ripples

Parts of Bergen County are also being affected by the lack, not just Passaic County. Ridgewood Water, which serves Glen Rock, Midland Park, Ridgewood, and Wyckoff, usually buys water in bulk from Hawthorne’s system. Ridgewood Water’s own resources have been cut by about one million gallons per day because that link has been cut off to save water for the towns that have been hit the hardest.

In a public notice, the utility asked customers to save water to help avoid having to follow Stage III Water Restrictions. They also reminded locals that their actions directly help people who don’t have running water.

Continuing Problems to Come

Major repairs are complete and water service is improving, but it may take time to restore all affected neighborhoods. Water officials are monitoring pressure and urging people to save water.

The situation illustrated how quickly a local issue can become regional and how communities may collaborate to fix it. People from numerous towns sacrificed and helped.

Sources:

• Passaic Valley Water Commission

• Township of Wayne

• Ridgewood Water