Leominster residents worried by brown tap water, city says it's safe to drink

LEOMINSTER - A Leominster mother who asked WBZ to remain anonymous says it's been months since she first noticed her family's water turning yellow, then brown as it came out of the sink.

WBZ canvassed the Adams Street neighborhood and several residents agreed: they've had brown water for weeks to months.

"Honestly, I'm kind of offended, because if this was Concord, Lexington, or Wayland, their water would be fixed immediately, but because we are in Leominster, they are just pushing it aside," the mother said.

According to a post on the city's Facebook page and a conversation with a city official, excessive rain this summer has led to high levels of manganese in the Fall Brook Reservoir, where residents get their tap water.

The city says the levels of manganese are low enough to cause discoloration, but not health issues. According to Harvard, "there have been isolated case reports of toxicity shown in people who drank water contaminated with unusually high levels of manganese," which can cause central nervous system issues including tremors and headaches.

Still, the city insists the levels are not that high, and the water is safe to drink despite its brown hue.

"I'm worried about the long-term effects on [my kids'] health," one woman told WBZ. "I'm scared to give them showers, baths, we have to buy the big gallons of waters if they want to take a hot bath."

One other resident showed WBZ her white laundry load - which was covered in brown stains.

The city gave her a chemical solution to get the stains out of her wash, but she and some neighbors feel more should be done. "At this point I feel like they need to be dropping off gallons of water for us to use," one woman said.

The City of Leominster assures residents the water is safe to drink and also promises it is using every option to flush the system to reduce the discoloration in residents' tap water. 

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• Leominster News