New Jersey American Water on Monday continued to reassure its customers that treated water from its Delaware River Regional Water Treatment Plant is not impacted by the chemical spill that occurred early Saturday morning from a manufacturing plant into a tributary of the river in Bristol, Pennsylvania.
The Camden-based utility said it is monitoring the source water and performing water quality tests at various points in the treatment process and throughout the distribution system. The treated drinking water being delivered to customers in the three counties served by the Delaware River Regional Water Treatment Plant has not been impacted.
The voluntary conservation notice is still in effect and the company continues to ask customers in Burlington, Camden and Gloucester counties to limit non-essential water use until further notice.
“The reason we did this is to provide flexibility around the timing and the quantity of water we bring into the facility to treat and deliver,” Mark McDonough, president of New Jersey American Water, said. “We have the ability to store large amounts of raw and treated water, and we are continuously monitoring and testing the source water in the river by our intakes before taking in more water to replenish supplies.”
McDonough added that state and federal agencies, and other water purveyors are also testing the river, including the area around the plant’s intakes. No contaminants have been detected.