Crews work to repair Nutley water main break that affects residents in 3 counties

In Nutley, parts of Bloomfield Avenue looked like a river as crews work to get the break under control. Hoses and pipes crews had to set up to divert water from causing any more flooding.

News 12 Staff

Oct 8, 2022, 10:13 PM

Updated 804 days ago

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A 74-inch water main break continued to affect residents in Essex, Hudson, and Passaic counties on Saturday.
In Nutley, parts of Bloomfield Avenue looked like a river as crews worked to get the break under control. Hoses and pipes crews had to set up to divert water from causing any more flooding.
This has been an ongoing issue since Wednesday that affected at least three counties, several municipalities and some 300,000 residents.
The break happened on Bloomfield Avenue near Church Street on the North Jersey Water Commission line. Several residents in affected areas experienced issues with little to no water pressure.
Homes near the break experienced flooding and the entire township of Bloomfield remains under a boil water advisory whether or not residents experienced low water pressure.
Residents in Nutley were virtually unaffected by the main break because their water is not supplied by the water main.
As of Saturday night, crews were still at the scene working to get the main break under control. In Bloomfield, the boil water advisory caused business to pivot to keep their customers safe.
"We're not allowed to sell any coffees or Slurpees and the people are getting really upset," said 7-Eleven worker Sagar Singireddy. The coffee machines and the Slurpee machines were out of order at the convenience store on Broad Street and Bay Avenue since the boil water advisory went into effect -- and those are 7-Eleven's big money makers.
"Most of the sales, we raise is from coffee," Singireddy said.
It was the same situation at a nearby Dunkin Donuts that also serves fountain drinks.
Some restaurants had to change their methods to keep their businesses running during the boil water advisory.
"We've been boiling water and we're offering customers bottles of water, cans of soda, bottles of soda," said Floyd Armando Montiel, of Popolari.
An update from Bloomfield Township said in part, "The Township has established two emergency interconnections with the Passaic Valley Water Commission - one in Nutley and one in Clifton - have resulted in stable water pressures within our system. We are also in contact with the NJDEP Potable Water Division to coordinate water sampling of our distribution system with the goal of releasing us from the Boil Water requirement."
Chris Carley, of Holsten's, said the restaurant aleady had a way out of the water emergency and did not lose any business during the water emergency.
"Our soda fountain and all our watering systems have water purification systems on them. So, we've processed our water and there's no problem with. Any cooking we do, we boil," Carley explained.
Though the break happened in Nutley, residents in the community were not really affected, except for those who live near the break.
It's unclear how long the boil water advisory will be in effect in Bloomfield.