Published in the Asbury Park Press
By JEAN MIKLE
TOMS RIVER BUREAU
TOMS RIVER -- High water usage coupled with two wells being out of service yesterday led United Water Toms River to activate a drinking water well that contains elevated radiation levels.
United General Manager George Flegal said the company's Well 20 was turned on early yesterday morning to help refill storage tanks that have been drained during the past several days.
The well contains higher than normal levels of naturally occurring radiation, but when Well 20's water is blended with the rest of United's drinking water supply, the water meets all federal and state drinking water standards.
Well 20 was activated one day after United turned on an interconnection with New Jersey-American Water Co. that can supply 1 million gallons of water daily.
"Last year our peak day was only 18 million," Flegal said of this week's higher-than-normal water use.
He urged United's customers to conserve water.
United serves more than 95,000 people in Dover and Berkeley townships and South Toms River.
Unusually warm weather led United's customers to use about 20 million gallons of water a day yesterday and Thursday, Flegal said, straining the company's resources. United's wells 34 and 42, which together can supply about 3 million gallons of water daily, are both off-line, Flegal said.
Well 42 was taken out of service for routine maintenance, but the well needs a new pump and will likely not be turned on for a couple of weeks, Flegal said. The pump on Well 34 broke down, and should be replaced by sometime next week, he said.
Should the supply from Well 20 and the interconnection not be enough to replenish United's depleted tanks, it's possible the company could activate wells 26 and 28, Flegal said.
Those wells have only rarely been used in the drinking water system since November 1996.
Wells 26 and 28, both shallow wells located in United's parkway well field, capture and treat a groundwater contamination plume from the Reich Farm Superfund site, located about one mile north. The two wells are treated with an air stripping system as well as a carbon filtration system that removes pollutants before the water is pumped back into the ground.
Members of the Citizens Action Committee on Childhood Cancer Cluster have raised concerns about activating wells 20, 26 and 28 and have asked that the community be notified whenever the three wells are turned on.
Linda L. Gillick, who chairs the citizens committee, said Thursday night that she was disturbed that the notification process did not seem to be working properly.
Flegal said United's storage tanks were beginning to fill yesterday and that today's forecast for cooler weather could help reduce customers' usage and help the company meet demands for water without activating wells 26 and 28.
"We're gaining on storage right now, but is it OK to get us through the weekend? That's the question," Flegal said late yesterday afternoon.
Anyone interested in learning which wells are being used can call United's hot line at (732) 286-9143.
Published on May 5, 2001
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