Water main break in Edison, NJ leaves 20,000 residents without water

EDISON, N.J. (PIX11) — Residents of Edison, New Jersey, should have their water restored by Friday morning. 

"An insertion valve is being put into the water main line that was broken," Mayor Sam Joshi told PIX11 News Thursday night. "This will help curtail more of the water flow and will allow crews to begin repairing. The boil water advisory is still in effect."

Approximately 20,000 Edison residents woke up with little to no water Thursday morning.

A 20-inch main broke around midnight, and emergency crews were on the scene at 1 a.m. Thursday morning.

“Businesses and residents along Route 1, Woodbridge Avenue, [and] Route 27 are all impacted,” said Joshi.

“This is a larger problem with aging infrastructure in general,” said Joshi. “Some of these pipes date back 80 years.”

One resident who lives just feet from the break said she heard something around midnight.

“I heard this weird boom and explosion and a little bit of rumbling,” said Marissa Hunt. “I went to the bathroom. I turned on the faucet, and we had really low water pressure.”

Hunt lives so close to the water main she cannot get out of her street. “I can’t get out,” said Hunt. “I can’t get food. I can’t take a shower. Nothing.”

The break also impacted some local businesses.

A laundromat on Woodbridge Avenue displayed a sign in its window stating that only its smaller machines were available for use on Thursday.

Customer Fuquan Hall said he’s been working around the issue all day.

“When I went to the gym to work out, they told us we couldn’t wash our hands or use the bathrooms because there wasn’t water,” said Hall.

“Obviously, no one wants to be in this situation,” said Joshi. “I assure you that all of our crews, along with our emergency crews, are working as rapidly as possible to fix this. We are hoping to get through it as soon as we possibly can, and hopefully today.”