Water on campus may have changed taste and color this winter, according to a series of announcements by New Jersey American Water (NJAW) between December and February. NJAW supplies water to all of campus and most of the town of Princeton.
According to University spokesperson Jennifer Morrill, during this period, there was an “uptick in water quality complaints” on campus. In response to the numerous notices, The Daily Princetonian conducted an independent water analysis across 15 water fountains in all seven residential colleges over the last two weeks of February.
The ‘Prince’ tested a variety of factors, including salt concentration, pH, and water hardness. Using water testing strips, we sampled two water fountains in at least two halls of each residential college. Each fountain was retested once, unless values appeared high, in which case it was retested twice. Results were obtained by matching the strips to the kit’s color key, which rounded to the nearest 10.
Water generally fell within the EPA’s legally enforceable National Primary Regulations, which limit the levels of contaminants in drinking water.
However, in some residential college halls — Whitman’s 1981, Butler’s Bloomberg, and Rockefeller’s Witherspoon — the water was at the upper limit for some of the EPA’s secondary guidelines, which are meant to ensure good water taste rather than safety.
“They’re mainly there to make sure people drink tap water and don’t move to other water sources,” Peter Jaffé, a civil engineering professor, said in an interview with the ’Prince.’
The ‘Prince’ found that 1981 Hall had 5 ppm zinc, a concentration that puts it on the upper bound of the EPA Secondary guideline. In interviews with the ‘Prince,’ 1981 residents indeed described a strange taste in their hall’s water.
Camryn Crump ’27 said that the water has a “tang” and that she “boils it to take the taste away.” In general, she avoids getting water in 1981.
“You can definitely taste the difference,” Allan Wasonga ’26 said of the water in Whitman versus Frist. “The Frist water tastes more pure.”
Bloomberg and Witherspoon had salt concentrations of 250 ppm. While the EPA doesn’t have a set guideline for salt in drinking water, state governments like New York and Vermont recommend salt content of 250 ppm or below for “taste considerations.”
Witherspoon resident Sophie Feinblatt ’27 spoke to the ‘Prince’ about her experience with her hall’s water.
“The water here is a little odd,” she said. “Sometimes I don’t drink anything, so I’m definitely not drinking as much as I should.” She added that her roommate buys her own water and drinks that instead of the water fountain supply.
Meera Kochhar ’25, a Residential College Advisor in Witherspoon, also shared her thoughts on the water.
“I’m suspicious of the water fountains because all of them have warmish water and the spouts are blue or brown,” she wrote in a statement to the ‘Prince.’ “The water quality doesn’t feel the same as other places on campus.”
“Sometimes I will go to Buyers Hall for fresh, filtered water from one of the newer machines,” she wrote. Kochhar added that many students in her Advisee Group also avoid the water in Witherspoon.
Aicha Diakite ’25, who lives in Bloomberg, said that she noticed that the third floor water was “cloudy” and that “something about the taste was a bit off.”
All water fountains had a pH of around 6, which is below the recommended 6.5-8.5. pH is measured using a base ten logarithmic scale; a difference of 0.5 units corresponds to about 3.16 times more acidity than recommended. It appears that these pH levels are lower than those found in a 2023 water analysis by the ‘Prince.’
Jaffé said that lower pH is not cause for concern.
All colleges — except for Forbes — had calcium and magnesium content that corresponded to either “hard” or “very hard” water. Witherspoon had the hardest water of the fountains tested, with 300 ppm of dissolved calcium and magnesium. This is within the EPA’s hardness recommendation, up to 500 ppm.
Some students in affected halls told the ‘Prince’ that they are generally content with the water fountains.
Marceline Myronoff ’28, a Witherspoon resident, said that to him, the water “doesn’t taste too off.”
Wasonga also said that although he prefers the water in Frist, “I don’t really mind [the 1981 water taste] because I drink eight glasses a day.”
But for Kochhar, “at the end of the day, how good your water is will influence your hydration levels which will influence your health, productivity, and sense of feeling good.”
Maya Mukherjee is a News contributor and the head Podcast editor for the ‘Prince.’
Please send any corrections to corrections[at]dailyprincetonian.com.
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