NORTH ARLINGTON –
North Arlington’s water supplier recently notified property owners that it found coliform bacteria in the borough water system.
According to the supplier, Passaic Valley Water Commission, “Coliforms are bacteria which are naturally present in the environment and are used as an indicator that other, potentially-harmful, bacteria may be present. Coliforms were found in more samples than allowed [by water testing standards] and this was a warning of potential problems.”
Of the 59 samples taken during September throughout the borough water system, six showed the presence of the coliform bacteria, PVSC said.
Locations of those six were not identified in the PVSC notice to consumers but a copy of the sample report submitted to the borough appears to identify 170 Schuyler Ave., on Sept. 9; 1 Schuyler Ave. (Jack’s Foodtown), on Sept. 21; 493 Ridge Road (Arlington Laundromat), on Sept. 21; and 485 Ridge Road (bathroom sink), on Sept. 22; as places which tested positive for coliforms, with repeat detections at 1 Schuyler, on Sept. 22; and 485 Ridge, on Sept. 22.
Why did it happen? The PVSC notice gave this explanation: “Treatment plant interruptions during September increased the rate at which water from the Great Notch reservoir supplied the North Arlington distribution system piping. It is likely that the source of the coliform bacteria was this open finished water reservoir.”
Water customers were reassured that, “This is not an emergency,” that no boiling of water was required, and that, “We did not find any E. coli bacteria in our subsequent testing.” The New York State Dept. of Health defines E. coli as “not found growing and reproducing in the environment; consequently, E. coli is considered to be the species of coliform bacteria that is the best indicator of fecal pollution and the possible presence of pathogens.”
The PVSC advised consumers that the utility has “flushed the affected area of the distribution system” and is “in the process of conducting an assessment of our water system to help us minimize the likelihood of this happening again.”
Still, at least one borough resident – Larry Angelo – had misgivings about the utility’s reassurances and hired an independent lab to take samples of water at his Moore Place home and analyze them “after constantly seeing a pink ring in my toilets [and] the results … show higher than normal levels of bacteria.”
Said Angelo: “This is a serious health concern for every resident and pets included.” He recommended that the borough follow his lead and hire an outside lab to do sampling and analysis.
But Borough Administrator Stephen Lo Iacono and Mayor Joseph Bianchi – who, along with Councilman Dan Pronti, met with PVSC’s principal engineer and lab manager last week – said they were persuaded that the utility had done all that could be expected to do and that it would continue its weekly monitoring of the water system.
Moreover, Lo Iacono said, PVSC is “going to expand its sampling and put [Angelo’s] home and business on a testing rotation” to keep track of his situation.
At this point, he added, there appears to be “no danger whatsoever” to the borough’s water system. “We were told this was a very transitory thing, with the levels of the reservoir being down contributing to concentrations of bacteria.”
“Remember now,” Bianchi said, “it hasn’t rained significantly in three months so the water is low in the Passaic Valley reservoirs.”
Yet, the mayor noted, “They’ve got 800,000 customers served by their water system and we were the only town affected. I can’t figure that.”
Asked if the many weeks the PVSC spent cleaning the system’s water pipes along Park Ave. could have had anything to do with the finding of coliform bacteria, Bianchi said, “Maybe it had something to do with the scraping off stuff off the pipes but Lyndhurst had no trouble and their water passes through our town in three places.”
Bianchi added that, “Occasionally, I get a smell from the water at my house on Rutherford Place but it went away.”
Still, given the response by PVSC to the borough’s situation, the mayor said he was “very confident the water is safe to drink.”
