I visited the New Jersey American Water Canoe Brook Water Treatment Plant in Millburn Township on Monday, Aug. 29, to capture some pictures of the facility and the challenges it faced after the flood. 

Hurricane Irene raised the Passaic River to historic levels that unfortunately flooded waters into buildings containing electrical control panels and water pumps. The flood waters shorted out electrical panels, contaminating the pumps and possibly contaminating the huge underground and ground level clean water storage tanks.   

When it became apparent that the facility was in danger of being flooded, NJAW staff began a controlled facility shutdown to mitigate damage and equipment loss. Since the passing of the peek flood level, staff have been working to pump out the buildings so they can access the damaged equipment and make repairs. 

Some areas of Springfield may be able to discontinue the need to boil water as early as Tuesday,  but return of full service to all customers will take days. 

Once notified by NJ American Water consumers will need to purge their home water lines and replace any water filters (i.e. automatic ice makers).  Details and updates are available on the company’s websiteunder New Jersey Alert Notifications.

My personal thanks to Mr. Anthony Matarazzo, Senior Director Water Quality and Environmental Management for his help with this story and pictures.