St. Helena residents advised to avoid and report discolored tap water

Residents of St. Helena may see discolored tap water after a surge of water dislodged sediment accumulated inside water pipes over the weekend.

“Out of an abundance of caution, residents should avoid consuming discolored water,” Dr. Issam Najm, St. Helena’s water quality expert, said in a statement from the city.

Officials recommended residents use bottled water for drinking and other potable uses.

The surge was caused after a private tour bus collided with a fire hydrant on Main Street Saturday, July 18, at about 4:45 p.m., releasing an estimated 4,500 gallons of water per minute, the city said in a statement. The fire department arrived on scene and capped the leak by 5:10 p.m.

Officials are estimating a couple dozen people have been affected by discolored water so far, though this is mostly collected through word of mouth as many people have not reported electronically, according to Joe Leach, assistant city manager and director of public works.

The rapid increases in water flow possibly dislodged iron and manganese through the distribution system, causing the water to appear discolored, officials said.

Beginning Saturday night, public works crews worked to flush the brown water out of the distribution system while managing water levels to meet customer demand and ensure sufficient water in case of emergency response.

There is currently no estimate on when the city will complete flushing the discolored water out of the system, according to Leach.

Increased levels of iron present low health risks, but certain levels of manganese are noted non-potable by the State of California, Najm said in the statement. If the water source exceeds 200 parts per billion of manganese, the State recommends additional treatment to reduce the amount of manganese in the water.

“When a water sample is collected, the City will not know the level of manganese in the water until the result is reported by the laboratory several days later,” Najm said in the statement.

Though issues with the water distribution system have been persistent in St. Helena, an incident at this scale hasn’t been seen in the last six months, Leach said.

Incidents of discolored water can be reported through the St. Helena Grapevine at www.cityofsthelena.gov/grapevine.

You can reach Staff Writer Kyle Garcia Takata at kyle.garciatakata@pressdemocrat.com.