'It almost looks like urine': Bottled water advisory issued in Kimballton
The city of Kimballton is telling its residents to only drink bottled water after issues at the local water treatment facility. The city says there is too much manganese in the water. Manganese is common, but high levels can become dangerous.
The first thing that made Kerry and Roger Anderson wonder about their water was the color.
"It got really yellow, it almost looks like urine," Roger Anderson said. "We just kept drinking it, I thought we had a treatment plant that was working."
But they didn't. The plant that treats the couple's water is under construction, and the temporary system isn't working the way it should.
"Trying to add the new equipment with the old equipment which isn't an easy task," Kimballton Mayor Carol Harvigsen said.
That's causing it to send water tainted with manganese into people's homes.
"The EPA has identified manganese at that level as a health risk for short-term exposure," Kimballton water operator Ryan Willheimer said.
Even though the Andersons live down the street from Town Hall, they say they didn't know the city was telling people not to drink the water. Many of their neighbors, like Dwayne Greve, hadn't heard either because they aren't connected online to places like Facebook. They expected the city to notify them directly.
"Drop something in the mailbox. We get mail every day," Roger Anderson said.
So they kept drinking the water, until yesterday when they heard a story on the news saying it wasn't safe.
"Him and I both have a lot of health problems and I have a lot of stuff that I should be taking drinking clean water," Kerry Anderson said.
Even though the couple knows about the bottled water advisory now, it's not easy for them to follow.
"We have to go to Atlantic or Harland or Ottumwa or someplace to get water," Roger Anderson said.
But the mayor doesn't feel the travel is an issue because most people in the city travel for work anyways.
"We weren't too concerned," Harvigsen said. "We can flush our toilets, we can shower, we aren't in a horrible position, it's not easy right now but it could be a lot worse."
But for the Andersons and their neighbors, the issues are impacting their trust in the city.
"They say it's safe to do dishes and wash clothes with but how do you know?" Kerry Anderson said.
The mayor says a new retention tank has been installed that could solve the issue as soon as Saturday, after tests ensure manganese levels are lowered.
