WHY DOES HOBOKEN HAVE SO MANY WATER MAIN BREAKS? — You Asked, the City Answers

The City of Hoboken and SUEZ Water have been spending a lot of time together lately.

Our occasional water main breaks have gone to weekly and now daily, and a lot of us here in town are asking questions.

Why do we have so many water main breaks?

Why are the pipes so old?

What is the City of Hoboken doing to fix the problem?

Not to steal their thunder, the City has answered those questions on their website, under the heading Water Distribution System Q&A.

Basically, it stems from the (our words) less-than-ideal contract between Hoboken and SUEZ implemented back in 1994. This 30-year contract, which expires in 2024, (City’s words) “requires SUEZ Water to make almost no proactive investment in our water infrastructure.”

Rather than replace the aging infrastructure, SUEZ has opted to wait until mains rupture and then replace them on a case-by-case basis.

The City is trying to find ways to change that, but it’s complicated.

In other words, get some Wellies…

CLICK HERE for more details.