A water main ruptured in Jersey City yesterday, leaving most of the city – including Christ Hospital – without water. As water services are restored, Suez is advising residents to boil water for drinking, cooking, baking, making ice cubes, taking medication, brushing teeth, washing food, and more.

“We have a crisis in New Jersey when it comes to our crumbling infrastructure. This water main break in Jersey City has happened at a terrible time, and is just the latest example of why we need to fix old pipes and update our water infrastructure. This is especially important because we are in the middle of a public health emergency, and this break disrupted water service to Christ Hospital as they are dealing with the coronavirus crisis. Thanks to old and outdated infrastructure, we are also dealing with chemical contamination in our drinking water and pipes that are leaking and falling apart,” said Jeff Tittel, Director of the New Jersey Sierra Club. “This break also shows the sham of privatization. People end up paying higher rates for less service.”

Jersey City officials said that the shut-off switch for the main was under four feet of water, resulting in polls of water flooding part of Route 7. At one point, rescuers waded into waist-deep water to check on a stranded car.

“This is just the latest example of why privatized water utilities are bad. Private companies like Suez don’t make maintenance and capital improvements, leaving a mess for towns like Jersey City to clean up. When Suez took over Jersey City’s water system under Mayor Schundler, part of his excuse was that they were going to upgrade and fix the old pipes and water system. This break clearly shows that they haven’t done any of that. Privatization just means more money for water utilities and less service for the public,” said Tittel. “This water main breakage has also already resulted in millions of gallons of wasted water and has threatened nearby homes with flooding, which is concerning during the coronavirus pandemic. The shut off switch was under four feet of water yesterday, and the water at one point was waist deep.”

Our outdated infrastructure is causing us to lose massive amounts of water. Another issue with outdated water infrastructure is that it can add toxins such as lead to our drinking water. Lead is one of the most hazardous substances known to man and it impacts children, especially small children, in our urban areas. Lead can cause illness and even in small amounts can lead to brain damage and learning disabilities.

“Some of our infrastructure goes back to the Victorian Age. Some of these old pipes are made with lead solder or allow lead to leach in and out, so it is even more important for us to upgrade and replace our pipes. Lead is one of the most hazardous substances known to man and it impacts children, especially small children, in our urban areas. It can cause illness and even small amounts can lead to brain damage and learning disabilities,” said Jeff Tittel. “The State needs to step up to update our water infrastructure.”

In 2018, a series of water main breaks prompted Hoboken Mayor Bhalla to declare a city-wide emergency and file a lawsuit against Suez. The lawsuit demanded that Suez halt all major capital projects and focus on preventing water main breaks throughout the city.

“New Jersey needs to step up and fix our old, leaky pipes. This water main break shows the failure of privatization. Just two years ago, the same thing happened in Hoboken. Fixing our aging infrastructure is especially important during the current health emergency, when access to water for health care facilities could be a matter of life or death and residents are stuck at home and need clean water. Making sure our infrastructure is fixed and updated will mean less problems like water main breaks. Fixing old pipes will cost at least $8.8 billion, and updating all of our water infrastructure will be much more,” said Jeff Tittel, Director of the New Jersey Sierra Club. “New Jersey needs to fix our outdated water infrastructure to protect our drinking water across the state. It’s too important for public health and safety of people across the state.”