Community Corner
Brown Water Hits Fairfield County Taps
Record demand on Aquarion's mains from the heat wave are to blame.
No, that brown water coming from your tap is not mud. It's iron and manganese, and it was stirred up in Aquarion's water mains by the historic demand placed on the provider during this week's heat wave.
Aquarion received brown water reports from all around Fairfield County on Tuesday and Wednesday, the height of the heat wave, spokesperson Lorraine Bukowski said. There was just one report in from Ridgefield on Thursday as of 1 p.m.
Bukowski said residents should avoid drinking the murky water until it clears.
"We advise people not to drink the water because, first of all, it doesn't look palatable," she said. "It's not a major health concern because those minerals are mainly iron and manganese, which we have in our bodies anyway. We advise customers not to use stained water until it is clear."
Bukowski said that low water pressure in pipes and water mains stirs up sediment and leads to the brown color finding its way through some pipes in parts of Ridgefield served by the company's wells.
"We were getting reports [Wednesday] about low pressure and discolored water and that's why we asked people to restrict their water use," she said. "This has been the greatest water demand in 150 years and that kind of demand just really affects the water mains."
