In Plainsboro, the United Water Princeton Meadows wastewater facility has made progress towards regaining full capabilities after Hurricane Irene shut down its operations in late August. An announcement was made on Wednesday, January 4, signaling that things have returned to normal.
“The plant lost all power during the height of Hurricane Irene, and the facility sustained significant damage to its equipment due to the flooding, automatically halting all operations. We are very pleased to report that as of today necessary repairs have been finalized and damaged equipment has been repaired or replaced,” said Director of Operations Rick Pfleiderer.
Pfleiderer said massive equipment failures during Irene included the facility’s main transformer, emergency generators, transfer switches, and laboratory testing equipment, among other systems.
Twenty-four hours following Irene the plant was running again thanks to temporary equipment. But when the plant was unable to drain into Cranbury Brook as normal, United Water’s customers were prompted not to use any appliance that drains into the sewer system such as washing machines or dishwashers.