Halley Turner, a resident of 500 Furies Ferry Road, called Columbia County Water to report brown, murky tap water and asked whether it was safe to drink. “God, this is disgusting. Brown, murky, has sediment in the bottom and it's been like this for days,” Turner said in the transcript.

Nathan, a Columbia County Water representative, told Turner the county had experienced discolored water in her area and that crews would be sent to flush lines. “We can send a crew out to flush. It may take them a couple of hours to flush it clean,” Nathan said. Later in the call he confirmed, “Yes, ma'am. They're on their way.”

Nathan said the utility has identified manganese buildup in pipes as the cause of the discoloration. “Because we pull water from downstream of a dam. We we are riddled with manganese. Manganese is the most common, mineral in the Earth's crust,” he said. He added that the state environmental regulator, EPD, has not issued a health limit for the levels observed but does set an aesthetic limit: “So it's more of an aesthetic issue than than a danger issue to drink.”

To address long-term buildup, Nathan said the county recently contracted with a firm to install ‘‘pig launches’’ on the distribution system and planned to begin a pigging process in winter. He described a pig as “a foam bullet, that actually gets pushed through the pipelines … it actually cleans the inside of the pipes and removes the manganese that's accumulated over the last decades.” The county expects installation of pig launches by late fall and pigging to begin in early winter; Nathan cautioned that residents may see discolored water during the work as lines are shut and moved. “Our goal is to really move forward with a with this solution, by next spring,” he said.

Nathan also told Turner that the county uses the HyperReach notification system and that residents can sign up on the county website to receive calls and texts about service work and advisories. When Turner asked whether flushing would occur that day, Nathan replied that crews were on their way.

Discussion-only items in the call include Turner’s questions about safety and scheduling and Nathan’s explanation of manganese and the pigging approach. Direction from the utility included immediate dispatch of crews to flush affected lines and a communication plan using HyperReach. The transcript records no formal regulatory action or vote; the utility representative stated a procurement has been executed to install pig launches but provided no governing-body motion or vote in the call.

Residents with discolored water who need updates were advised in the call to sign up for HyperReach alerts and to expect intermittent discoloration while the utility installs equipment and begins pigging operations.

Details from the call: Columbia County Water described the discoloration as caused by manganese; crews dispatched to flush were en route the day of the call; the county contracted for pig-launch installation with installation planned by late fall and pigging planned through winter, with a goal to complete the solution by next spring. The state regulator EPD was cited by the utility representative as having no health limit for the observed levels but an aesthetic limit that informs the county’s description of the issue.