A water main break that occurred late last week in a major northern New Jersey city continued to cause headaches for residents on Monday, as some people still had no water service and thousands dealt with extremely low water pressure.
Nearly 200,000 customers remain under a boil water order issued by the Passaic Valley Water Commission after the break occurred Friday on a 30-inch water main in Paterson — the state’s third-largest city. The advisory — which asks residents not to fill large jugs or containers, water lawns and not open hydrants until at least Friday — mainly is for Paterson but also includes three other smaller, neighboring communities.
Portable showers and toilets also have been set up in some areas where there is no water service, and the water commission is providing free bottled water to residents.
Officials initially had hoped to have water service fully restored by Sunday, but crews have not been able to isolate the spot where the break occurred. City officials also say the broken section requires specialty-fabricated pipes that must be custom made.
The boil water advisory is expected to remain in place until water pressure is restored and officials flush the system and test for bacteria. Paterson Mayor Andre Sayegh and other officials planned to provide an update on the repairs on Monday afternoon.
“Once we do bring pressures back up, we still have to do sampling and some (system) flushing, so it could take another day after pressures are back before the order is lifted,” Passaic Valley Water Commission Executive Director Jim Mueller said.
