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Water Runs Brown In Charleston Due To Manganese

CHARLESTON (KFSM) — Residents in Charleston noticed the water running from their faucets and bathtubs turned a dark brown over the weekend. Many said city...

CHARLESTON (KFSM) -- Residents in Charleston noticed the water running from their faucets and bathtubs turned a dark brown over the weekend.

Many said city leaders told them the water was safe to drink and no boil order was issued.

Charleston resident Summer Brassfield took several photos of her tub full of brown water. She said she had to shower in the water to go to work each day. She said the water concerned her so much that she took a sample to a lab to have it tested and is currently waiting on the results.

By Monday and Tuesday (August 9), the water had lightened, but was still tinted brown.

Resident Ginger Matthews said the water stained her bath mat and her white towels. She said bleaching them is no use.

"The other day it was so brown that I couldn't finish brushing my teeth. I had to go get a bottle of water to finish brushing my teeth," she said.

Charleston resident and mother Denise Storey said her water was brown but she flagged down city workers near her street this weekend. She said the workers flushed the lines near her home and now the water seems to be fine.

"They would open the fire hydrants and let it flow out for about 30 to 45 minutes until the water was running clear," Storey said.

She said she feels confident enough to mix the water in her daughter's sippy cup.

Tonya Sneed with the Charleston Water Department said crews have flushed lines for several days. She suggested anyone with brown water call city hall.

"If they would call city hall, the Water Department or myself  we will come out and investigate. We will flush the lines near their home. We can come to their home and take a sample of the water and send it off to the state to make sure it's not contaminated with E. coli," Sneed said.

Sneed said the color of the water in Charleston isn't harmful.

"We believe the water is brown due to manganese in the water. We pull our water from the lake and manganese is a natural occurring mineral in rock and soil that comes out of the water and into the plant," she said. "The health department monitors it so we don't know that it's harmful. If it was, I would certainly alert the residents."

She said she is personally taking weekly samples to the Arkansas Department of Health instead of the state standard of once a month.

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