Rusty water alarms Everett
Published 9:00 pm Tuesday, September 4, 2001
By Theresa Goffredo
Herald Writer
EVERETT — Hundreds of residents flooded the city’s public works telephone lines Tuesday to complain about dirty water coming out of their faucets, lining their toilet bowls and fouling their laundry.
Public works officials assured the callers that the water, although dirty-looking, was safe to drink and was coming out rusty-colored for a good reason.
One of the city’s drinking water reservoirs, which serves customers in north Everett, was taken out of service Tuesday for maintenance. Reservoir No. 2, which holds 10 million gallons of water, is being re-lined and getting a new cover. Total cost of the repairs is about $800,000.
But when the reservoir was taken out of service, the water that normally comes out of reservoir No. 2 had to flow through different distribution lines — pipelines that haven’t been used in awhile, public works spokeswoman Marla Carter said.
And at about 10 a.m. Tuesday when the reservoir was shut down and the water rerouted, that’s when the calls began. Public works employees stayed past 5 p.m. Tuesday to answer phone calls from residents just getting home from work and discovering the dirty water.
"The sediment that’s normally there is now stirred, the sand and rust particles," Carter said. "Like at our building, you could see it in the toilet bowl."
The water is safe to drink because it’s been treated, but Carter understands some people may resist drinking water that is rusty.
And some businesses, including the Strand Hotel on Colby Avenue, were doing laundry at the time and those laundry loads became stained with rust. A phone call to the Strand was not returned.
"We’ll probably see some claims," Carter said.
If people have laundry that is stained, Carter suggested residents could buy a rust remover product for their clothes from the plumbing department of their local hardware stores.
"One of our staff workers visited a resident whose favorite blanket was stained, and she used the rust remover, and it worked and she was really pleased," Carter said.
Though the rusty-colored water is expected to clear within 24 hours, the sediment inside the newly used pipes may be stirred up on and off over the next month while the reservoir is being repaired.
"We may have other fluctuations as the sediment works through the line," Carter said.
You can call Herald Writer Theresa Goffredo at 425-339-3097
or send e-mail to goffredo@heraldnet.com.
Everett public works officials offer these tips for dealing with dirty water:
