SUMTER, S.C. — Some Sumter residents are waking up to discolored water from their faucets, which they've seen periodically for years. They say it can sometimes be yellow, brown or red, but it usually goes away after a few hours.
"Everything was great until the red water started," Doug Jones said.
Jones moved to Sumter 35 years ago, living in three different locations throughout the city over the past few decades. At each new place he moved to, Jones tells me the "red water" followed. He even worked with a neighbor to create a Facebook page where residents used to document the discoloration. While the pictures are from a few years ago, Jones tells me the water periodically looks the same.
The City of Sumter said this discoloration comes from iron.
"The discolored water is iron, which is a naturally occurring mineral dissolved in our ground water aquifer sources. It is not hazardous and will not cause any health issues if ingested or touched; however, it can stain clothes in the wash," Shelley Kile, the city's communications manager, said in a statement.
Some residents like Jones, however, are concerned about the elevated iron levels.
"I have to control my iron level, and I certainly can't control it with the quality of water that the city is used to providing me and charging me for," Jones said.
Jones has hemochromatosis, meaning his body stores too much iron as it is, which he realized through genetic testing.
"What really got me is I was going into the airport in Columbia, and I was routinely setting off the metal detector," Jones said about one of the symptoms that led to his diagnosis.
He said elevated iron levels in the water are problematic for Jones and others like him.
"How could a city of our size not be able to overcome iron in the water?" he asked.
The city said it had installed automatic blowoff valves in areas where this "red water" is a common occurrence.
It also said it "flushes fire hydrants to reduce the chance of iron deposition in the water lines."
Despite these efforts, the city said certain events, like "fire hydrants being flowed, waterline breaks, changes in water plant operations or water plants being taken offline for maintenance," can cause the iron to appear in water coming from residents' faucets.
This is because "during an event that causes an increase in the velocity or change in the direction of the water flow in the potable water lines, the iron deposited in the water line will become suspended in the potable water."
The city does conduct a water quality report each year and said while the water can pick up substances like inorganic or organic chemicals, the drinking water is safe and meets all federal requirements. Residents like Jones, however, want to find a way to remove the high iron levels.
"We probably need to look outside of Sumter, South Carolina, to get a fix," Jones said. "We all collectively hoped that the city would take all these people seriously because, again, we're property owners, and we pay taxes to the county; we pay taxes to the city. All we're asking for is clean drinking water. It doesn't seem that difficult for other municipalities to provide that."
The city tells News 19 that if residents experience discolored water, they should report their physical address to the Public Services Department by calling 803-436-2558.