Commissioners press urgency on 'brown water' complaints, schedule community meeting
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Summary
Bladen County commissioners discussed persistent brown water complaints, chemical testing and potential filtration upgrades; staff proposed a community planning meeting early in the year to identify affected streets and gather residents’ input; no technical fix was adopted at the meeting.
Commissioners spent extended time Dec. 4 addressing repeated 'brown water' complaints affecting parts of Bladen County. The discussion included citizen impacts, engineering and treatment options, and short‑term relief measures.
Multiple commissioners described frequent calls from residents who receive discolored water at home and said billing customers who receive brown water is unacceptable without fixing the issue. Staff reported that a chemical company had taken samples and planned jar tests with a phosphate specialist to determine chemical feed adjustments. County staff and commissioners discussed the possibility of evaluating filtration systems; one commissioner said chemicals alone might not resolve the problem and flagged filtration as a likely capital investment.
The board directed staff to hold a community planning meeting in early January for affected neighborhoods so the county can better map the problem, capture residents’ concerns, and avoid piecemeal fixes. Commissioners asked staff to survey how widespread the problem is, to consider alternative engineering firms if needed, and to provide before/after documentation as repairs are made.
No vote on a technical remedy or major capital expenditure appears in the transcript. Commissioners emphasized urgency and asked staff to accelerate work and to coordinate with the fire departments on hydrant status and service restorations.
Next steps: staff will schedule and announce the community meeting, compile a list of problem sites, pursue additional sample analysis and engineering options, and report updates to the board.
