A Water Main Break Makes Harrison’s Water Brown

On Saturday, September 12, 2022, a water main break in Kearny caused the Town of Harrison’s water to turn brown.  Residents took to Facebook to post photos of their brown water and look for official information on why their water was discolored.  Some residents attributed the brown water to fire hydrant flushing.  Others disagreed as hydrants are usually flushed at night.  There was no official notice on the Town of Harrison’s website about the water main break or guidelines on what should be done during the water main break and/or whether the water was safe to shower in or to cook with.   Mayor Fife did a robocall stating that there was a water main break hours after the break started but did not provide any recommendations on how to safely deal with the discolored water.  The Town’s website did not have any safety recommendations or updates on repairs.

The following is what the Town of Harrison should have provided to residents on its website and throughout the town and made part of their robocall notification.

BOIL WATER ADVISORY

BOIL YOUR WATER BEFORE USING

FOR CUSTOMERS OF HARRISON WATER DEPARTMENT

 HARRISON WATER DEPARTMENT is providing notification that a water main break has occurred at KEARNY NEW JERSEY which has caused customers within our service area to experience a significant loss of pressure.  A potential or actual threat to the quality of water being provided to you currently exists.  As a precaution, we are implementing a ( system-wide Boil Water Advisory until testing of the water supply is deemed satisfactory.

What should I do? What does this mean?

Effective immediately and until further notice, customers within the impacted service area HARRISON, NJ are instructed to bring tap water to a rolling boil for one minute and allow the tap water to cool before using or use bottled water. Boiled or bottled water should be used for drinking; preparing foods; mixing baby formula, food, juices, or drinks; washing vegetables and fruit; cooking; making ice; brushing teeth, and washing dishes until further notice. Boiling kills bacteria and other organisms in the water.

The following measures are also recommended:

• Throw away uncooked food or beverages or ice cubes made with tap water during the day of the advisory;
• Keep boiled water in the refrigerator for drinking;
• Do not swallow water while showering or bathing;
• Rinse hand-washed dishes with a diluted bleach solution (one tablespoon of household bleach per gallon of tap water) or clean your dishes in a dishwasher using the hot wash cycle and dry cycle;
• Do not use home filtering devices in place of boiling or using bottled water; most home water filters will not provide adequate protection from microorganisms;
• Use only boiled water to treat minor injuries;
• Provide pets with drinking water that has been boiled (and cooled).

Please continue to boil your water or use bottled water until you are notified that the water quality is satisfactory.  This advisory will remain in effect until repairs are completed and testing shows the water quality to be safe. 

We are working as quickly as possible to restore your water quality.  Thank you for your patience.  If customers have any questions please contact:

HARRISON HEALTH DEPARTMENT at (_973_)_268-2441

You may also view our website at https://www.townofharrison.com/155/Health-Department for further updates.

Please Note: This is not a Notice that the Town of Harrison Health Department sent out to the media.  This is an example of what the Harrison Health Department should have sent out but did not.