A massive water main break continued to impact multiple communities in northern New Jersey on Monday, days after water started gushing out of the 74-inch pipe, leading to a water emergency.
But officials say they now know what caused it.
The break occurred on Oct. 5 at Bloomfield Avenue and Church Street in Nutley, and its impact has been felt across three counties (Essex, Hudson and Passaic) ever since. Two spots, Montclair and Glen Ridge, declared water emergencies and are asking residents to limit "non-essential" water use for the time being.
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A sign in the men’s room of a Montclair supermarket, with bottled water on the sink, should give an idea how serious the city is taking the water emergency. Some residents have unfortunately had to cut back on bathing. At the Montclair Diner, customers must ask for water.
"They’re getting bottled water for coffee, for tea, cooking with bottled water," said diner manager Lynda Edgeson.
Other locations were put under a boil water advisory, while customers in Newark have reported low water pressure. Officials are calling the federal government for help.
Montclair now gets much of its water from a quarter-mile long pipeline built over the weekend from another water supplier in next-door Clifton. The city's mayor said that until repairs to the huge water main are complete, including a slow repressurization over the next 24 to 48 hours or so, the state of emergency will remain in effect.
"When that happens and we start to see water flowing back into our system from our normal source, we will then lift the state of emergency," said Montclair Mayor Sean Spiller.
The North Jersey District Water Supply Commission is still working to repair the main. But News 4 learned exclusively what caused everything to go so wrong: A bolt blew from the valve it is sitting on, breaking the valve. When seen up close, it's visible how the faulty bolt actually stropped the iron opening.
Coming from one particular manhole, each one has two shutoff valves — both as old as the nearly 100-year-old pipeline itself.
Now all the bolts on the length of the pipeline will be replaced. Mayor Spiller has already asked Gov. Phil Murphy for a czar to oversee reconstruction of North Jersey’s water infrastructure, in order to "coordinate our efforts and then of course with that ask for dollars both federal and state."
Spiller said that Murphy seemed approving of a water rebuilding czar for the area. The governor's office did not immediately respond to requests for comment on the holiday Monday.
In August, a monster water main break wreaked havoc in Newark and nearby communities, impacting more than 100,000 people as hospitals grappled with diversions and officials planned door-to-door outreach. At the same time, emergency crews responded to at least one case where a woman's car was swallowed by a sudden sinkhole.
The 42-inch, 140-year-old pipe broke in Branch Brook Park on the border of Newark and neighboring Belleville.
