TWW Failed to Perform Calibration Verification

TWW’s water-filtration plant on Route 29 South in Trenton routinely monitors water drawn from the Delaware River for turbidity, a measure of the relative clarity of raw water during the filtration process. Under NJAC 7:10-9.6(b), a supplier of water with an existing surface water-filtration plant must calibrate turbidimeters as specified by the manufacturer and must verify the accuracy of each analyzer/recorder by taking a grab sample of the effluent at least once in every 24 hours. Our water system did not comply with these requirements. Specifically, on March 17, 2023, TWW failed to conduct a daily grab sample for the following filter sample points at our water-filtration plant: 9E, 11E, 5W, 6W, 7W, 8W, 9W, 10W, and 11W.

For more details see New Jersey Drinking Water Watch at https://www9.state.nj.us/DEP_WaterWatch_public/index.jsp and
enter TWW’s New Jersey Public Water System Identification No. NJ1111001.

What should I do?
There is nothing you need to do. You do not need to boil your water or take other actions. We do not know of any contamination from this event, and our recent testing has not shown total coliform bacteria in the drinking water.
If you have a severely compromised immune system, have an infant, are pregnant, or are elderly, you may be at increased risk and should seek advice from your healthcare providers about drinking this water. General guidelines on ways to lessen the risk of infection by microbes are available from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Safe Drinking Water Hotline at 1-800-426-4791 TWW

What does this mean? This violation is not an emergency. TWW would have been notified within 24 hours if it had been an emergency. Turbidity has no health effects. However, turbidity can interfere with disinfection and provide a medium for microbial growth. Turbidity may indicate the presence of disease-causing organisms. These organisms include bacteria, viruses, and parasites, which can cause symptoms such as nausea, cramps, diarrhea, and associated headaches. These symptoms are not caused only by organisms in drinking water. If you experience any of these symptoms and they persist, you should seek medical advice.

What is being done?
TWW has implemented three levels of verification to ensure the collection and verification of filter grab samples at our water-filtration plant to meet our internal operational protocols and comply with state regulatory standards.

For more information about this public notice, please write or call: Trenton Water Works, Office of Communications and Community Relations
333 Cortland Street, Trenton, NJ 08638, (609) 989-3033

Please share this information with all the other people who drink this water, especially those who may not have received this notice directly (for example, people in apartments, nursing