Hopatcong mayor calls recent water failure 'catastrophic'; council okays NJDEP-certified lab for testing

At the Dec. 18 Hopatcong Borough Council meeting Mayor Marie Gulati described a recent weekend water failure as among the worst in the municipality—s history and the council approved hiring an NJDEP-certified contract laboratory to begin water testing.

"This is one of the most catastrophic failures that the water system in Hopakon has ever seen," Gulati said, describing overlapping events — drought-related low tanks, a major leak and a fire — that coincided and complicated response and public information. She provided operational figures for the incident, reporting 264 calls between 8:45 p.m. and midnight on Sunday and 1,001 calls from 10 a.m. through midnight on Sunday. Staff reported 56 cases of water deliveries, 4,000 non-potable gallons and 1,500 gallons of potable water distributed; eight residents used borough shower facilities during the response.

Following the debrief the council voted to authorize hiring an NJDEP-certified contract laboratory to perform water testing (Resolution 2024-159). Administrator Shelby Snow and others praised borough staff for an "all hands on deck" response and said the administration will develop new public-information procedures to avoid conflicting messages in future incidents.

The laboratory authorization directs the borough—s water and sewer staff to implement a sampling plan and share results with the council. Council members asked staff to prepare follow-up reporting and to coordinate any public-health notices based on laboratory findings.

What happens next: the water and sewer department is to engage the certified laboratory and begin testing, then report results and any recommendations back to the council; timing for results was not given at the meeting.