Published in the Ocean County Observer
By KRISTEN PASCULLI
Staff Writer
TOMS RIVER -- United Water Toms River has turned on its interconnection with the New Jersey American Water Company.
"The reason for this action is precautionary," George Flegal, United Water Toms River manager, said of the move made on Friday.
Flegal said the near-term forecast is for hot, dry weather and "system demands are expected to be high." He attributed the reason for the interconnection activation to supplying Island Heights with water as they repair their water source.
"I think George Flegal did a good job of notifying us," said Dover Township Committeeman John M. Furey.
Furey said he was glad United Water was giving the township adequate notice that the interconnection was activated. He said the notice gives residents the chance to start conserving water.
If more water is needed, according to United Water policies, well 20, which has been known to have elevated levels of radioactive contaminants, would be activated first. Wells 26 and 28 would be utilized if water was still in need.
He encouraged customers to utilize the evapotranspiration, or ET, program, to avoid over-watering lawns and lessen the strain on local water facilities.
Under the ET program, a daily number is devised and publicized by local media agencies. This number determines when residents should water lawns, and for how long. But about a week ago, Steve Quesenberry, who is the program coordinator of the ET program, announced that a catastrophic computer failure left the ET program defunct.
On Friday night, the problem was temporarily repaired, and ET numbers were able to be assigned.
"Our system did call, download, and process the data from the entire network of 16 weather stations located throughout southern New Jersey," Quesenberry said. He said he is optimistic the service will not be interrupted before the web master can permanently repair the system.
But Mayor Raymond P. Fox contends the ET program is "a little too complicated for the average person."
The Township Committee discussed putting its own system of water conservation in place, though it has yet to be done.
Fox urged residents to conserve water during the heat wave by using an "odd-even" approach. This means residents living at odd-numbered houses would water lawns on an odd-number day, and vice versa.
He said the Water Resource Task Force will be meeting soon to offer the committee suggestions in order to begin publicizing this program.
Published on July 1, 2001
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