News

April 17, 2020

NEWARK TO NOTIFY RESIDENTS OF LATEST HAA5 LEVELS IN WATER

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In continuing the practice of full transparency about the City’s water quality, residents will be notified next week about miniscule exceedance levels of HAA5, a by-product of chlorine use to kill bacteria in outdoor water supplies such as reservoirs.


The bacteria comes from naturally occurring sources, like decomposing leaves or animals.


HAA5 refers to the five haloacetic acids formed by chlorine use and the federal government requires the acids not exceed 60 parts per billion in drinking water.


Newark water is tested quarterly at 12 locations quarterly and averaged for the last four quarters after each test.


While Newark’s HAA5 exceedances continue to drop due to changes in treatment last year, the four-quarter average remains in miniscule exceedance, sometimes less than 1 part per billion.


“By next quarter our averages will continue to drop because of the treatment and we should be in compliance,” said Kareem Adeem, the City’s Director of Water & Sewer Department. “We have invested $10 million in our filtering and purification processes and technology, and we are seeing continual declines in our HAA5 levels.”


The results and further explanation of this testing cycle and exceedances will be posted on City websites, shared on social media, and is being sent through the mail to every resident and water customer on Monday.


Please be advised this is NOT a water emergency. HAA5 only poses health risks at exposure levels many, many times higher than the federal exceedance levels for inordinate lengths of time.


As always, the City remains dedicated to the safety of residents and staying transparent in our water safety reporting. Be assured that if there were a true water emergency, residents would be notified within 24 hours.


Jerry Notte, the City’s water operator, is available to answer questions about this latest report at (973) 697-5458.

- Newark News