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City says yellow tap water linked to Lake Ivy magnesium spikes; water met safety standards
Summary
Public works staff told council the recent yellow discoloration came from high-magnesium "slugs" from Lake Ivy; staff said flushing resolved the issue and the water met regulatory limits.
City water officials told the San Angelo City Council on Sept. 16 that two recent events of yellow discoloration in tap water were caused by spikes in magnesium and higher organics entering the city’s water treatment plant from Lake Ivy, the city's main source.
Resident Anna Bartosz brought the concern to the council during public comment, saying she had observed yellow tap water and asking whether it was safe and what “highly treated sewage” meant. Shane Kelton, a city water official, responded that crews observed two events in recent weeks where “we actually did we caught a really dirty slug of water coming into the water treatment plant” from Lake Ivy and that elevated magnesium and organics produced yellowish–brown color in the distribution system.
Kelton said the plant is a conventional surface-water treatment plant that lacks membranes or reverse osmosis systems that can remove color. "We can't treat for color ... The water was safe to drink, safe to consume. We met all safety standards, with regards. We didn't go over any MCLs," Kelton said, using the acronym for maximum contaminant levels.
Staff described the response as system flushing and targeted crew work. Kelton said crews went to locations that had received complaints and flushed the distribution system to move the discolored water out of pipes. "The best way to cure this is flush this through the system," he said.
Why it matters: Discolored water can alarm residents; the city said the discoloration was cosmetic, not a public-health exceedance. Councilors asked staff for explanation and reassurance; staff committed to continued monitoring, corrective flushing and public information.
What was not stated: The transcript did not specify the exact monitoring results or whether the city issued any boil-water notices (it did not), nor did staff provide lab result values in the meeting. Kelton characterized the events as transient and treatable through distribution flushing.
Ending: Council accepted the explanation and asked staff to continue outreach and monitoring; residents with ongoing discoloration were told to contact the water utility for flushing assistance.
