Do you know where our drinking water comes from?
And what else don't you know about water?
Other Links |
Drinking Water in South Orange
Source
The Village of South Orange purchases groundwater through the East Orange Water Commission (EOWC). Groundwater is water below the ground which must be pumped out with a well. Surface water collects in lakes, rivers and streams, or in reservoirs.
South Orange uses approximately 2.33 million gallons of water per day (gpd). It receives approximately 240,000 gpd from well # 17, located in Grove Park, on South Orange Avenue, with the remainder being supplied by EOWC.
The East Orange Water Commission derives its supply from groundwater tapped by 4 well fields constructed in the East Orange Water Reserve which is 2,400 acres in area in Millburn, Florham Park and Livingston. It is underlain by the Buried Valley Aquifer System and fed by the Passaic Aquifer.
History and Distribution System
During the glacial period when part of North America was covered with an ice cap, the northern part of New Jersey to as far south as Perth Amboy and as far west as Summit and east to Belvidere was covered by ice. As the ice gradually melted and the southern edge of the cap retreated towards the north, millions of tons of gravel, sand and rock were deposited in layers in the various valleys. In time, these beds of sand and gravel were covered with various layers of hard clay and earth as a result of disintegration and erosion from the mountain ranges. The melting ice created the great Passaic Aquifer. Top
Today, East Orange and South Orange water is taken from these beds of sand and gravel, fed by the Passaic Aquifer. Wells have been driven down through the over-lying strata and the water is drawn from the sand and gravel beds by electrically-driven deep well pumps. The department operates eighteen (18) artesian wells in four well fields located on the Reserve.
The water is forced from the wells through conduits to the White Oak Ridge Pumping Station, where it is treated with chlorine for additional decontamination purposes and then pumped to an underground distribution reservoir in Maplewood. From this reservoir, it flows via gravity into the distribution system and to the consumer’s house tap at which point it first sees the light of day.
Quality
The federal Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA) requires all municipal and other potable water systems to test their sources frequently for a variety of contaminants, including those found in urbanized areas such as northern New Jersey, and to treat any sources of water with contaminants above maximum contaminant levels (MCLs). The results of the tests of raw and treated water are mailed to every household annually.
Our drinking water is chlorinated.
Precipitation occurring within this ground water basin recharges the ground water reservoir. There is little or no ground water connection with adjacent basins under natural conditions, but extreme withdrawal in adjacent areas might influence the boundary of natural recharge for the basin. The contribution of precipitation to ground water varies from place to place within the basin and its overall amount or local extent is unknown. Top
Water quality in the Buried Valley Aquifer System is highly vulnerable to degradation, and contamination. Road de-icing salts and other street runoff are presently degrading water quality in the Buried Valley Water aquifer. Since the Buried Valley system is composed of hydraulically interconnected, permeable formations, the system is especially vulnerable to the introduction and dissemination of contaminated recharge. Development and transportation projects in the area which increase this load degrade the water and should be skillfully designed so as to avoid significantly increasing the pollutant load.
Water in South Orange is generally “hard.” Hard water minerals primarily consist of calcium or magnesium, and sometimes other dissolved compounds such as bicarbonates and sulfates. Before purchasing water-using appliances, check to see whether there is a version that is designed for “hard” water; otherwise clean the appliance frequently if you do not have a water “softener.” For tips on dealing with hard water, see http://www.eastorange-nj.org/Departments/Water/Hard_Water.htm
Pollution
The most recent reports for South Orange are found here (link to 2006, 2007 from EOWC website).
EOWC operates and maintains all equipment for South Orange’s drinking water, including the “air stripper” which removes volatile organic chemicals which contaminate well # 17 prior to potable use. Air “stripping” means transferring volatile components of a liquid into an air stream. It is a chemical engineering technology used for the purification of groundwater and waste-water containing volatile compounds. If a pollutant occurs at levels above the maximum contaminant level (MCL), a stripper is used to remove as much as possible to get the water below or at the MCL level. If your household annual water report shows a particular pollutant at the MCL level, it is being treated to get the level of pollutants down to the maximum allowed (or less).
The source of contamination of well # 17 in Grove Park is unknown; however, tetrachlorethylene (PCE) and trichloroethylene (TCE) are the most common contaminants of groundwater, especially in urbanized places. PCE and TCE are both chlorinated solvents, and were used extensively as industrial solvents and degreaser for several decades prior to about 1980, and were often disposed of to the ground. PCE is also dry cleaning fluid.
Pool Water
Untreated water from Well # 17 is also used for South Orange’s pool water in the three pools at Cameron Field, in Meadowlands Park. At the Environmental Commission’s request, in 2008, the pool water was tested and found to contain no volatile organic contamination above the “non detect” level, since, most likely, any volatile organic chemicals in well #17 have evaporated prior to or during filling of the pool.
EOWC does not share information about its safety and security measures to ensure that our water system is tamper-resistant and that it complies with federal anti-terrorism regulations. However, it assures that “The EOWC is in total compliance with Federal and New Jersey Statutes and Regulations regarding System vulnerability and we are constantly reviewing and upgrading the facilities security system to insure the assets are protected,” according to its executive director, Harry Mansmann. Top
Oversight
In 1979, the City of East Orange and the Passaic River Coalition petitioned the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator to declare the Buried Valley Aquifer System as a sole source aquifer under the provisions of the Safe Drinking Water Act. The area underlain by the Buried Valley Aquifer System includes all or parts of twenty-six (26) municipalities. One municipality outside the aquifer system is entirely dependent on the aquifer system. In total, about ninety percent (90%) of the water used in the twenty-six towns underlain by the Buried Valley Aquifer System is derived from ground water in that area. Subsequently, USEPA agreed to designate the Buried Valley Aquifer System as a sole source aquifer. To read more, see http://pages.csam.montclair.edu/pri/symposium2006/uhl.htm
and http://epa.gov/region02/water/aquifer/burval/buryval.htm