HOBOKEN -- The city is demanding that Suez, the company that operates its water system, halt all of its major capital projects and focus on preventing water main breaks throughout the city, according to a lawsuit filed Wednesday.

The lawsuit, filed in Hudson County Superior Court, claims that Suez has been "woefully inadequate" in ongoing efforts to repair or prevent future main breaks, and has been "unable or unwilling" to determine a cause for the frequency of the breaks.

Specifically, the suit targets a major capital improvement project that began on June 23 and said that since construction began, the city has experienced "no less" than 15 breaks, citing numerous examples throughout the months of July and August.

The suit targets a meter chamber project in nearby Jersey City which houses two water meters that regulate water pressure for the city.

"An impaired or unreliable water supply system presents a danger to the health, safety and welfare of the residents of the city, and immediate action is required ... to ensure the water supply system if operating effectively and the residents and property in the city are protected from the dangers presented by near constant flooding," the lawsuit reads.

Suez, in a response, said the legal action is a "waste of time, money and energy that could be better used for solving the real problem causing water main breaks in Hoboken -- the age of the system and its pipelines."

"More than 50% of Hoboken's pipes were put in place in the late 1800s and early 1900s. They have far outlasted their usefulness. Hoboken's residents deserve better service from their water system," the statement reads.

Suez, formerly United Water, has been contracted with the city since 1994, and has twice extended the contracts lifespan by ten years -- once in 2004, and again in 2014.

At issue is a discrepancy in statistics carried by the company and Hoboken. Mayor Ravi Bhalla, in a press conference on Tuesday, called the frequency of breaks in the summer months an "anomaly."

Rich Henning, a senior vice president of Suez, said during a press conference that for the past 17 years, the city has averaged 12 water main breaks during the months of July and August -- on par with what the city cast as an anomaly.

Annually, the city has averaged 111 water main breaks, about one break every three days, Henning added.

The lawsuit seeks injunctive relief requiring Suez cease construction on all capital improvement projects "unrelated to the repair of emergency water main breaks."

It demands Suez prepare a plan of action to prevent future breaks and provide the city all studies, reports, plans or similar documents detailing the scope of construction on the meter chamber project and any investigations conducted by Suez as to the cause of the breaks.

It also requires Suez pay attorneys' fees and cost related to the suit.

Additionally, Bhalla said that -- with City Council authorization -- he intends to rebid the city's contract "in hopes of finding an agreement and framework that works for the residents, not the bottom line of a private company."

Corey W. McDonald may be reached at cmcdonald@jjournal.com. Follow him on Twitter @coreymacc. Find The Jersey Journal on Facebook.