COWETA, Okla. — Nasty tasting, and in some cases, nasty-looking tap water has some city leaders in hot water.
Coweta City Manager Julie Casteen admits there have been recurring issues with maintenance, combined with heat and rain causing algae blooms in the water supply —despite it reportedly testing safe to drink.
The city announced on its Facebook that its water plant superintendent resigned after only a few months on the job.
"We've had water problems off and on," Casteen told 2 News. "Our Verdigris River is pretty nasty looking. You're going to see some brown color in the water occasionally. It does tend to happen more in the summer months, especially if we have some algae bloom like we do right now."
"The system needs to be flushed out. There are areas of the distribution system that have what we call dead ends, and the water kind of pools and sits there and gets things nasty off the sides of the pipes."
Stirring the water pot are residents complaining of other factors like discoloration and tainted clothes after a wash.
"I understand the frustration. I would be very upset if I was asked to drink some brown-colored water," Casteen added.
Luckily, the city water can be filtered to a better taste. At Overflow Coffee, the flow of H2O and filtered ice gets no complaints.
"The flavor of your coffee starts with the water, the quality of the water," owner Leslie Rothrock said. Rothrock uses a reverse osmosis filter for the shop.
1843 On Broadway Bar & grill, co-owner Kevin Dang uses two large filters for his restaurant.
"I'm partners in this with Joe and Kelly Howard, and he really likes his water good. So he wanted to make sure that we had the best water," Dang said.
But Casteen knows not all residents are as lucky as local businesses.
She told 2 News on July 23 that the city is working with third-party company Omni Water Consultants.
"(Residents) should see improvement within 3-5 days and then at that point once were sure that everything is in a good spot we'll be starting our flushing program again to get those harder to reach areas," she said.
Casteen added an expansion and modernizing project to the wastewater plant will get underway in the next few weeks, but the city manager said that is unrelated to the current issues.
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