Here is where you can find a copy of the town Water Quality Report for 2021:
Put that in your browser and you’ll receive access to some interesting reading about our town’s drinking water. Some of the information is in this week’s edition of The Gazette, beginning on page 1. In addition to quoting from the report, Gazette Staff Writer Joseph F. Berenato interviewed Councilman Stephen Furgione.
The report includes the following admission:
“Our water system recently violated a drinking water standard. Although this is not an emergency, as our customers, you have a right to know what happened. We inadvertently monitored at the wrong time for Volatile Organic Contaminants (VOCs) at one of our treatment plants in 2020. We monitor quarterly. We were required to monitor between April 1st and June 30th for the second quarter, but we inadvertently monitored in July. All sample results from the July monitoring are reflected in “Test Results” table and are in compliance.”
Every resident who is using municipal water—and even the residents who aren’t—should educate themselves on the state of the municipal water quality by reading this report, and even the reports from recent years that are also available online.
An informed Hammonton is a better Hammonton. Read the reports from the town, investigate how your tax dollars are being spent by the municipality and school district, and ask questions. While you shouldn’t simply rely on the documents the government provides online, they are a great place to begin. Always do your own thinking and research, though—remember, the taxpayers fund everything our elected officials do, on every level.