Some Riverhead Water District customers in Calverton and Wading River have had rusty water flowing from their pipes over the past month, Water District Superintendent Frank Mancini said today.
“The system was disturbed without our knowledge and that caused the rusty water,” Mancini said during Thursday’s work session. The rust is sediment in the pipes that gets churned up by a sudden large release of water, such as when someone opens up a fire hydrant.
The incident is under investigation, Mancini said. Officials urge anyone who witnesses someone drawing water from a hydrant or sees an open hydrant anywhere in Riverhead to contact the water district at 631-727-3205 or call police at 631-727-4500.
It is illegal to draw water from a hydrant without a permit from the district, Mancini said.
About 200 water district customers, less than 2% of the district’s total, were affected, according to the superintendent.
District employees have been working to resolve the problem and to pinpoint its source, Mancini told Town Board members today.
Mancini said the rust issue is what led the district to decide to flush the mains in the western area of the district. Flushing will begin on the evening of Oct. 18 and will continue through Nov. 6, with most flushing taking place at night to minimize inconvenience to customers.
The district flushes the mains in the central and eastern portions of the system each spring. It has never done a flushing in the western region because most of the mains there are newer.
Council Member Ken Rothwell said he’s gotten “a lot of complaints from customers in Wading River,” where he lives and has a business. They weren’t aware of the problem and when they did laundry, the discolored water ruined some white and light-colored items, Rothwell said.
The district puts out a lot of notifications to the public when there is a planned flushing coming up, Mancini said. This happened without the district’s advance knowledge, leaving officials working to figure out what took place and where it happened in the district’s distribution system.
Mancini said the rusty water is not toxic. If water supplied by the water district is discolored with rust, customers should run the water until it runs clear, preferably by opening an outdoor spigot.
It is normal for some discoloration to occur when the district is flushing its mains, Mancini said. Customers should run their water until it runs clear, he said. It should clear up in a few minutes.
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