Op-Ed: Hoboken’s water system fails again: How much longer can we tolerate this?

In an editorial, Hoboken resident Inimai Chettiar takes the city to task over the latest water main break that took place last week, which caused a roughly 48-hour boil water advisory.

On September 9, Hoboken residents awoke to yet another all-too-familiar scenario: ruptured water mains, widespread boil-water advisories, closed streets, and mounting frustration.

A 12-inch water main burst at the intersection of Newark and Garden Streets, plunging vast swaths of the city into low pressure and triggering a citywide boil-water order. Simultaneously, an 8-inch main break near 9th Street added to the chaos.

My neighbors and I scrambled: filling pots with water, postponing simple routines like brushing teeth and cooking, unsure whether our tap could be trusted.

And for many of us with babies and children, we tried to execute impossible tasks like cleaning bottles and preparing meals for our kids.

For those relying on filtered systems, it’s not enough—boiling remains the only safe recourse. Distribution stations were set up, but not all could access them promptly.

This is not an isolated event. Hoboken’s water infrastructure is antiquated, with cast-iron pipes, some well over a century old, corroded and brittle.

Temperature shifts and pressure surges only accelerate their decay. Frequency of such water-main failures has become almost the default, not the exception.

While compliance with federal standards may be technically maintained, that does little to reassure residents.

Reports from the Environmental Working Group list several contaminants—bromodichloromethane, chloroform, hexavalent chromium, haloacetic acids—at levels exceeding health-based guidelines, even if still within legal limits.

Let’s be clear: reliable access to clean water is not a luxury, it is foundational to public health, economic stability, and basic human dignity.

This city, perched on the edge of Manhattan where property values soar and rent is sky-high, cannot continue to subject residents to these recurring, avoidable hardships.

Hoboken cannot continue to boast being a safe place for families if it can’t commit to regular clean running water.

What does this say to residents weighing staying in or moving to Hoboken?

For businesses, it means interruptions, lost revenue, extra costs managing boil advisories, like emergency bottled water, canceled operations, or lost clients. For families, it means uncertainty, anxiety, and potentially unsafe water use.

All while taxes and rents climb. Our water is unusable many times a year — and when water is nonfunctional our schools close, causing parents to stay home from work and potentially lose wages or jeopardize their jobs.

It’s time local and state leaders stop treating these episodes as temporary nuisances and start treating them as a crisis.

First, invest in a full audit of water-system infrastructure, prioritized replacement of at-risk mains, and deployment of modern smart-metering or pressure-monitoring technologies for early fault detection.

Second, ensure timely, clear communication. The Nixle alert that often goes out hours after the break is too late. Residents deserve real-time updates.

Third, tap into federal infrastructure funding and leverage urban resilience grants. Hoboken has already pioneered innovative flood-mitigation projects; let’s apply similar ambition to water delivery.

Ultimately, if Hoboken can afford luxury developments, trendy restaurants, and high-end real estate, it surely can fund the basic upkeep of its water system for its families and children.

The lack of a permanent solution to Hoboken’s water problem shows just how little residents’ health matters to our politicians.

The status quo may keep a fragile infrastructure barely functioning, but it cannot sustain community trust nor our health.

Residents deserve better. And until our water flows clean and reliable, the city’s reputation, like its residents, will remain mired in uncertainty.