Township: Drinking Water Is Safe

Drinking water throughout Jefferson Township is safe for residents to consume.

And why is that news? Because residents throughout the township received a mailed notification from the township that “monitoring requirements were not met.”

According to Rich Tuttle, director of utilities for the township, due to human error, water samples were not taken in the township for the fourth quarter of 2011.

“We were supposed to take the samples in December, and we didn’t take them until February,” he said. “Because of that, the state requires us to send out a form letter to residents.”

The problem, Tuttle said, is that the township is required to use state templates for the form letter. And the letter says, “We are required to monitor your drinking water for specific contaminants on a regular basis. Results of regular monitoring are an indicator of whether or not our drinking water meets health standards. During fourth quarter 2011 we did not monitor or test for VOCs [volatile organic compounds] and therefore cannot be sure of the quality of your drinking water during that time.”

However, the letter goes on to state that samples were taken on February 15, 2012 and all results were below New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection standards.

“What that means is that our water is below what the state deems as dangerous,” Tuttle said. “It’s like when you go to the doctor and have testing done, you want it to come back negative. It’s the same here. We want the water to come back negative for VOCs and it did.”

For more information on Jefferson’s water supply, residents can go to New Jersey Drinking Water Watch and type in the water system name, either Lake Hopatcong, Milton or Vassar Road.

Call Tuttle at 973-208-6145 with questions.