Although the Trenton Water Works recently violated a drinking water standard, the water is safe to drink, according to the City of Trenton-owned water utility that supplies drinking water to some Lawrence Township residents.
Nevertheless, Lawrence Township officials are disappointed and concerned about the notice, which was issued Dec. 26, and earlier notices indicating issues with the Trenton Water Works.
During recent routine water testing, the Trenton Water Works discovered that it had exceeded the maximum contaminant level for total trihalomethanes, which is a disinfectant byproduct.
The maximum contaminant level for total trihalomethans is 80 parts per billion, but testing results from November 2018 showed that four sampling sites exceeded the maximum by eight parts per billion – or 88 parts per billion.
Trenton Water Works officials stressed, that although the total trihalomethanes had exceeded the permissible level, it is not an emergency and there is no need to boil water. If it had been an emergency, residents would have been notified immediately.
Some people who drink water containing total trihalomethanes that exceeds the maximum contaminant level may develop problems with their liver, kidney or central nervous system, and may have an increased risk of cancer – but only if they have been drinking it for many years.
Meanwhile, Trenton Water Works officials are taking steps to reduce the disinfectant byproducts in the water system, including cleaning superpulsator settling tanks at the water filtration plant, and cleaning, repairing and sandblasting the chlorine contact tanks.
The city utility has drained, cleaned and disinfected the elevated water storage tanks and it has replaced water meters. It has also flushed service lines at the sampling locations to ensure the best representative sampling data, officials said.
This is not the first time that the Trenton Water Works has issued advisories to its customers in the City of Trenton and Lawrence, Hopewell, Ewing and Hamilton townships. The water utility serves all residents in the City of Trenton, and parts of the four townships.
Lawrence Township Municipal Manager Kevin Nerwinski said township officials are disappointed and concerned about the continuation of violation notices from the Trenton Water Works. Customers deserve better, and the township is doing all that it can to keep the pressure on the water utility to improve, he said.
On the latest water quality violation, Nerwinksi pointed out that “everyone needs to be mindful that compliance with the maximum contaminant level is determined by averaging all the samples collected at each sampling site for the past 12 months.”
“As a result, the violation is issued based upon a look-back of the past year. It does not necessarily indicate that the recent efforts of the Trenton Water Works over the past several months are failing to meet satisfactory standards,” Nerwinski said.
In January of 2018, the Trenton Water Works issued a “boil water” advisory and also asked customers to reduce their water use following a malfunction at the water treatment plant.
The water utility also violated a drinking water standard for haloacetic acids – a disinfectant byproduct – during the last quarter of 2017 and the first quarter of 2018, but the violation did not represent a threat and no emergency notification was required. There was no need to boil water or take any other action.
As a result of those issues, the City of Trenton and the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection reached an agreement in February of 2018 that detailed a series of steps to address the infrastructure, staffing, operational and public notification needs.
The administrative consent order called for filling vacant positions, along with measures to minimize water treatment plant disruptions at the Delaware River intake pipes due to low water conditions, debris, aquatic vegetation and ice.
