Customers of Trenton Water Works are being urged to limit their water use to essential purposes or emergencies after the utility's water filtration system went offline. The advisory was issued Wednesday night and affects hundreds of thousands of customers.

According to officials, the advisory was prompted by ice build-up on the Delaware River following the recent freezing temperatures that have blanketed much of the state. The conditions impacted the water filtration plant operations on Route 29 South in Trenton. The river serves as the utility's raw water source.

"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," Michael Walker, TWW's Chief of Communications and Public Outreach said in a statement.

Walker says the water is still safe to drink. Crews are continuing to monitor the ice in the Delaware River in an effort to bring the filtration system back online.

"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," Walker said.

Trenton Water Works was founded about 200 years ago, according to its website, and services approximately 225,000 people in Mercer County in towns including Trenton, parts of Hamilton Township, Ewing Township, Lawrence Township and Hopewell Township.

Customers who have questions about the advisory are asked to call the TWW's Office of Communications and Public Outreach at 609-989-3033 between 8:30 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. On weekdays.