Water main break affects 20,000 people in Edison

EDISON, N.J. (PIX11) -- Approximately 20,000 Edison residents woke up with little to no water Thursday morning and have spent the entire day waiting for it to return.

According to Edison Mayor Sam Joshi, a 20-inch main broke around midnight, and emergency crews were on the scene at 1 a.m.

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

Joshi said crews were working to isolate the break and then begin repairs.

“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 was also impacting some local businesses. A laundromat on Woodbridge Avenue had a sign in the window saying only its smaller machines were available for use 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.

Joshi assured residents that the problem is being fixed as quickly as possible.

“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.”