More on the water issue

From the Asbury Park Press:

TINTON FALLS — A 40-year-old section of piping that collapsed Friday at New Jersey American Water Co.’s Swimming River Water Treatment Plant, prompting a boil-water advisory that lasted until Monday evening, had been a problem since it was damaged during Tropical Storm Irene last summer, the company acknowledged.

But the company and engineers determined after the storm that although it caused “some damage” to the area, the bridge over the piping was in “no imminent danger of a collapse,” said spokesman Richard G. Barnes.

The issue continues to be a focal point even after Monday night’s lifting of the boil-water advisory for the final four Monmouth County towns: Aberdeen, Highlands, Holmdel and Middletown. An outdoor water-use ban remains in effect throughout the county.

While no cause for Friday’s collapse has been determined, a top county official said on Monday that it is past due to point a finger at the water company, which has implemented rate increases three times since 2008. The company, meanwhile, maintains that it has thousands of miles of piping to upgrade and maintain and, as sections of pipe continued to be trucked in and installed at the plant, pushed for the focus to remain on fully restoring services to its customers.

John P. Curley, director of the Monmouth County Board of Freeholders, called into question the company’s commitment to its infrastructure in the county.

“It is a disgrace, an absolute disgrace,” Curley said. “Accidents happen, but when you have a hole in your roof, you fix the hole in the roof.”

The “hole in the roof”’ in this case is the bridge that collapsed Friday afternoon, damaging three large pipes: one that takes water from the reservoir to the plant and two that take water to the distribution system. Barnes said the company does not know what led to the collapse. However, Curley said that area of the plant was hit hard by Irene, a hurricane last August that was downgraded to a tropical storm when it walloped many towns in Monmouth and Ocean counties.

 “Anybody that ever rode past that walkway could tell you that it looked like it was going to fall down,” Curley said. “I’m surprised it didn’t collapse sooner.”

Tinton Falls Mayor Michael Skudera said the bridge appeared to be damaged following Irene but, lacking substantial engineering knowledge, he took the company’s assurance that its integrity was not compromised.

“I’m looking forward to seeing what the results (of the investigation) are, because this should’ve been on their radar,” Skudera said.

Barnes said it was. At the time of the collapse, the company was gathering materials to shore up the bridge and reinforce the piping. The plan was to have the section rebuilt before hurricane season, he said. The Atlantic Hurricane season this year started on June 1 and lasts through November, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

Skudera said he was aware that the company had been discussing and planning fixes to the area, but not aware of details or specific costs. He feels the fixes could have come sooner.

“I’m very upset about the way this was handled,” he said.

Barnes could not say on Monday how much this sudden fix would cost or where the money would come from.

In March the freeholders signed a resolution opposing a proposal by the company to raise rates by more than 15 percent. That large of an increase, the resolution said, “defies logic, escapes the notice of those most impacted, and, at best, results in a negotiated rate increase which adds to the financial burden of ratepayers.”

Curley said in a signed letter to the state Board of Public Utilities and the state Division of Rate Council — agencies that have approval of the water company’s rate proposals — that New Jersey American Water customers have been subject to a compounded 51 percent rate increase since 2004, and its 2012 proposal, if approved, “would be devastating.”

The company announced in May that the BPU approved an increase representing a $30 million increase in revenues. In the announcement the company said “the new rates recognize the more than $300 million the company spent over the past two years to replace and upgrade its complex web of nearly 9,000 miles of water and sewer mains in order to continue providing customers with uninterrupted access to high-quality, reliable water service.”

Barnes said of that nearly 9,000 miles of piping, about 15 percent is going to reach 100 years of service by 2020. The bridge and piping that collapsed Friday was put into service in 1971.

It was unclear on Monday what agencies would be investigating the cause of the collapse. J. Gregory Reinert, a spokesman for the Board of Public Utilities, said the BPU will be “in the review of what went wrong and we will be involved with that for a long time.”

Meanwhile, testing to ensure the temporary replacement pipes are properly working continues.

Karen Fell, assistant director of water supply operations at the state Department of Environmental Protection, stressed that conservation efforts throughout the county are imperative to helping maintain the integrity of the water system until the area of the system is fully repaired.

“It will probably be months before they get their fix in,” she said.

What I'd like to know is exactly where this 100 years of service portion of the system might be? From what I've learned in 15 years of living here and talking to longer term residents, most of the county didn't get "city water" until sometime in the 1970s (when it was forced on them).  That, on my calculator, is substantially less than 100 years ago.  Though the older parts of the system, if they are not a myth, are probably in better condition than the stuff built in the 70s.  People knew how to build things to last, 100 years ago.

And how do we take our earned discount on our water bills while they're farting around trying not to fix this mess?  Can I deduct the market value of the tomatoes that will die in my backyard because I could get arrested if I water them?  How about the reduction in the market value of my home because all the  landscaping is going to die from not being properly watered?  What about the fines from the town for harboring weeds?  Weeds are all that will grow here if there is no water to feed the grass.

Most of this is political bullshit designed to force the public utilities commission to ok any amount of rate increase these greedy bastards would like to get.  And with the support of the idiot governator, no doubt water bills around here will triple once this hits the rate base.  Added to the fact that when people use less of a utility the rates have to go up, since there are fewer billable units over which to spread the costs of service.  Bottom line is, we're screwed.

Pass the tequila, por favor.