Trenton Water Works is asking customers to limit the use of water while water filtration plant is taken off line. The utility advised customers to use water “only for essential purposes or emergencies, such as fire suppression.” “We have taken this action because ice build-up in the Delaware River, TWW’s raw water source, has impacted our water filtration plant operations on Route 29 South in Trenton,” said Michael Walker, TWW’s Chief of Communications and Public Outreach. “The plant is offline, and we are relying on the Pennington Avenue Reservoir and an emergency interconnection with New Jersey American Water that we have activated.” “The water is safe to drink and of high quality,” TWW said in a press release sent late Wednesday evening. The agency said it would monitor conditions on the Delaware River so it could bring the water filtration and treatment activities back to normal as soon as possible. Walker told The Trentonian that Frazil ice accumulation causes problems with the intake along the river, which plant operators are having trouble clearing to allow the intake to flow freely. Frazil ice is small ice crystals that can form in bodies of moving water and collect on fixtures or objects causing solid obstructions. Walker said this is not the first time ice has caused problems for the TWW water filtration plant, though it doesn’t happen every time the river freezes over. An article on ScienceDirect.com about frazil ice notes that “blockage occurs when active frazil ice particles build up on the upstream side of the individual bars of an intake’s trash rack and eventually form bridges from one bar to the next.” “During the Limit-Water-Use Advisory, customers should not see any changes at their taps, and fire districts systemwide are unaffected but informed on Wednesday evening about the status of the TWW system.” Customers and service-area residents with questions about the Limit-Water-Use Advisory can call TWW’s Office of Communications and Public Outreach at (609) 989-3033. Business hours are 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Monday to Friday.