Rockville Centre Residents Disgusted By Brown, Metallic Water

ROCKVILLE CENTRE, N.Y. (CBSNewYork) -- Residents of the Long Island community of Rockville Centre say their water is so dirty brown that they have gone to Facebook to complain.

As CBS2's Dave Carlin reported, the Village of Rockville Centre said it is a temporary problem. But residents said it is a problem they cannot live with much longer.

Rockville Centre resident Sandra Wild said the water in her home is fine for yard work, but not for anything else.

"That's definitely not pure water," Wild said as she looked down at the brown water in her tub.

Wild said she will not even think of taking a bath since the hot water started coming out dark brown, and it has made it impossible to keep her fixtures and clothing clean.

"It's all rusty. It stains the grout in my bathtub. It stains the ceramics," Wild said. "If I do white laundry, I have rust stains all over the laundry, and you can't get it out. You have to get really caustic cleaners to get the stain out of the grout. I have to wear a gas mask and open my windows."

Wild is so fed up that she has been sharing pictures of her murky bathwater with neighbors on Facebook, who have also seen the rusty water.

The Rockville Centre Water District blames an ongoing renovation and repainting of its main water tower, which has an iron filtration system. Instead, the village has been drawing the water from an older tower on Maple Avenue that because of its age, has much more iron in its piping.

In a statement to CBS2, the water district said: "We know that the water is safe to drink, cook with and bathe in. Iron is harmless, and does not pose a health risk when consumed."

But not all residents are convinced.

"I feel like I drink this tap water, I'm going to be exposed to it in the shower, and I'm kind of concerned, yeah," said Sabina Osorio of Rockville Centre.

One local convenience store said there has been a run on bottled water.

"We are doing it almost like five cases. We put in this morning, and now this is what we have right now," said convenience store owner John Meditha.

Wild said she just wants the problem fixed so she can take a bath again.

The Rockville Centre Water District said it hopes repairs to its main water tower will be completed in a couple of weeks. Following the repairs, engineers will flush the system in an effort to clear it.