The Feds Just Sued a Water Commission Serving 800,000 NJ Residents Over Uncovered Reservoirs. Here's What It Means for Your Tap

A new federal court filing this month accuses the Passaic Valley Water Commission of leaving three drinking-water reservoirs uncovered for more than a decade, a violation of the Safe Drinking Water Act. Here is what the case actually alleges, what PVWC says it is already doing about it, and what it means for homeowners in the meantime.

What the Lawsuit Actually Says

Justice Department attorneys, joined by New Jersey's Attorney General, filed the federal case arguing PVWC has run afoul of the Safe Drinking Water Act because it never covered, or otherwise adequately treated, water sitting in three open-air reservoirs: Great Notch Reservoir, Levine Reservoir, and New Street Reservoir. The complaint says PVWC signed an agreement with NJDEP back in 2009 laying out a phased schedule to fix the problem, and that more than a decade and multiple follow-up enforcement orders later, the reservoirs still are not covered.

PVWC is a public water system, meaning it is a government-created commission rather than a private company, and it treats and distributes water drawn from the Passaic River watershed through its Little Falls Water Treatment Plant, which can process up to 80 million gallons a day. Its retail customer base spans seven North Jersey municipalities, and it also sells treated water on a wholesale basis to more than twenty other systems across the surrounding counties. The lawsuit is asking a federal judge to order PVWC to either cover the reservoirs or put alternative treatment in place that reliably keeps the water free of pathogens, plus notify the public about the ongoing risk, adopt interim health protections, and pay financial penalties for every day the violation continues.

• 2009: PVWC signs a consent order with NJDEP setting a phased compliance schedule
• 2021: A six-week boil-water-style advisory follows Hurricane Ida flooding
• August 12, 2026: DOJ and NJ Attorney General's Office file the federal lawsuit
• August 18, 2026: Lawsuit details become public via New Jersey Monitor and other outlets

Why an Open-Air Reservoir Is a Real Contamination Risk

Most modern drinking-water systems store already-treated water in covered tanks or underground reservoirs specifically because open water is exposed to birds, wildlife, dust, and stormwater runoff. When treated water sits in an open reservoir like Levine or Great Notch, rainfall can wash animal waste and other contaminants directly into water that has already gone through disinfection, effectively undoing some of that treatment before it ever reaches a customer's tap. The main pathogens of concern in that scenario are cryptosporidium and Giardia lamblia, both of which cause gastrointestinal illness and are notoriously resistant to standard chlorine disinfection.

This is not a hypothetical risk for PVWC's service area. The lawsuit points to a six-week water advisory in 2021 tied to flooding from Hurricane Ida as an example of the kind of event uncovered storage makes more likely. For a system serving roughly 800,000 people spread across a service footprint that runs from Paterson down through Clifton, Passaic, and Prospect Park to Lodi, North Arlington, and Woodland Park, plus 22 wholesale accounts in Bergen, Essex, Hudson, and Morris counties, that is a lot of households whose water quality depends on how quickly this gets fixed.

PVWC Says It's Already Moving on the Levine Reservoir

PVWC has not been silent on this issue. Earlier this year, the commission's executive director, Jim Mueller, detailed a project converting the 1870s-era open Levine Reservoir into covered storage tanks, part of a broader roughly $200 million plan to replace aging mains and pipelines, some of them over a century old. PVWC also completed a separate, unrelated $36 million lead service line replacement program in the spring, removing and replacing more than 4,000 lead lines across Paterson, Clifton, Passaic, and Prospect Park at no cost to homeowners.

Those are real investments, but the federal lawsuit is essentially arguing that the reservoir-cover timeline has moved too slowly relative to the 2009 consent order, and that the Levine conversion alone does not address Great Notch or New Street. PVWC did not respond to requests for comment on the lawsuit when it became public, so it is not yet clear how the commission plans to respond to the new court filing or whether the Levine project's timeline will be accelerated as a result.

What This Means for Homeowners Right Now

A federal lawsuit like this does not mean the water flowing from PVWC-served taps today is unsafe; the water is still treated and tested to meet Safe Drinking Water Act standards under normal conditions. What it does mean is that the system has a documented, longstanding vulnerability that shows up specifically during heavy rain or flooding events, which is exactly when a household should be paying closer attention rather than assuming everything is fine by default.

For anyone in Paterson, Clifton, Passaic, Prospect Park, Lodi, North Arlington, or Woodland Park, the practical move is to sign up for PVWC's public notifications so an advisory reaches you immediately rather than through word of mouth, and to know where a home's main shutoff valve is in case a boil-water notice or pressure event happens with no warning. If a storm event triggers cloudy or discolored water even without a formal advisory, running cold taps for a few minutes and holding off on drinking straight from the tap until it clears is a reasonable precaution. Plumbarama's 24/7 team serves NJ and PA homes and can check whole-house filtration options or flush a water heater if a household wants extra peace of mind while this plays out in court.

5 Things to Know if You Get Water From PVWC

Here is what actually matters for households across PVWC's seven-town service area, Woodland Park, Prospect Park, Passaic, Paterson, North Arlington, Lodi, and Clifton among them, while this lawsuit works through federal court.

1. Your water isn't automatically unsafe today: The lawsuit targets a longstanding structural vulnerability, not a current contamination event. Normal treatment and testing are still in place.
2. The risk spikes during storms and flooding: Open reservoirs are most vulnerable when heavy rain washes runoff into the water before it's distributed, as happened after Hurricane Ida in 2021.
3. PVWC already has one reservoir project underway: The Levine Reservoir is being converted to covered storage as part of a roughly $200 million system upgrade announced in May 2026.
4. Two other reservoirs aren't covered by that project: Great Notch and New Street reservoirs are also named in the suit and aren't part of the Levine conversion PVWC has publicly detailed.
5. Sign up for direct PVWC alerts: Relying on word of mouth for a boil-water notice costs valuable time; direct alerts get the information to a household as soon as it's issued.

Frequently asked questions

Does this lawsuit mean PVWC water is currently contaminated?

No. The lawsuit alleges a longstanding structural violation, meaning the reservoirs have been left uncovered for years, not that the water supply is contaminated right now. The concern is elevated risk during storms and flooding, as happened after Hurricane Ida in 2021.

What towns does PVWC actually serve?

PVWC directly serves seven North Jersey towns, Clifton, Lodi, North Arlington, Paterson, Passaic, Prospect Park, and Woodland Park, and also sells water wholesale to 22 additional customers across Bergen, Essex, Hudson, and Morris counties.

Is PVWC doing anything about the reservoirs already?

Yes. PVWC announced a project earlier this year to convert the Levine Reservoir from open storage to covered tanks as part of a broader roughly $200 million infrastructure plan. The federal lawsuit argues that progress on all three reservoirs named in the suit has been too slow given the 2009 consent order deadline.

What should I do if I'm on PVWC water and worried about quality?

Sign up for PVWC's official alert system so any advisory reaches you immediately, know where your home's main shutoff valve is, and consider a whole-house filtration check if you want extra assurance. Plumbarama offers 24/7 service across NJ and PA for exactly that kind of home water system check.