Vinton residents concerned about brown water

Public Works says the color comes from iron sediment

Homeowners in Vinton are concerned about the water coming out of their faucets. 10 News spoke to one woman who says her water is brown.

"My kids drink this water, I drink this water. We take baths in this water. If it does that to my pool filter within days... What is it doing to our body?" said Davetta Brown, who lives in Vinton.

The Town Manager says the water is safe to drink and the color comes from the rust in the cast iron pipes. He says some of those pipes are more than 50 years old. The town has received several calls about the issue, which stems from testing fire hydrants.

"When you have the occasion that fire hydrants are opened, or there's a water break, which requires us to turn off some valves to the water in certain areas... and when we're turning them on... the water stirs up the sediment and we try to flush that out before it gets to some of the customers, but sometimes it gets to the customers," said Town Manager Barry Thompson.

The Public Works Department says hydrant testing will continue until August. Vinton's water system comes from wells. Public Works says this also increases sediment in the water.