'Dark Urine' Tap Water Hits Faucets

Up to 5,000 homes entirely lost service or had “vile” tap water running through their faucets in Cornwall, England.

In early October, “discolored water first started appearing with residents claiming the water was the color of ‘dark urine’ and was like ‘pond water with sediment,’” BBC News reported.

The culprit was broken piping. “The main trunk supply ruptured. A secondary pipe [had] also burst, but with both located deep under granite South West Water said repairing them had proven more difficult than expected,” the Cornish Guardian reported.

"We are working round the clock on repairs, but because the main is in granite it has slowed us down," said a utility spokesman in the midst of the difficulties.

South West Water told some customers to run their tap water on cold to remedy the discoloration. The utility also told customers they could apply for relief to counteract high bills. Some customers said running the water did not help with the strange color, according to the Guardian.

“Our network teams have been out flushing the distribution system to clear the discoloration. To help this process we would encourage our customers to run their cold water which will help clear the system. If you have been affected by discoloration and are on a meter, you can claim a run-off allowance,” the utility said. For some homes, the utility later reversed the suggestion to run water in hopes of conserving water.

To communicate with customers, the utility provided frequent updates on Twitter and offered various apologies for service interruptions. "South West Water would like to apologize to customers as the water supply may not have been restored to you property overnight,” the utility said. The utility also made bottled water available to affected customers.

Discolored tap water can have various causes, some of which are completely innocuous. Flushing hydrants, for instance, can cause the water to change colors.

“The systematic nature of this operation serves to remove deposits and sediment that can accrue in the water mains,” said a statement from the Moline Public Works Department in Illinois.

“Customers may experience some discoloration or cloudiness in their water for a short time following hydrant flushing in their area,” the statement said. “Generally, this will clear up by running some water from a cold water tap for a few minutes.”

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