Marysville Mobile Home Parks Worried About Potentially Explosive Methane In Drinking Water

MARYSVILLE (CBS13) — Residents of a Marysville mobile home park are convinced there is methane gas in their tap water, years after a mobile home exploded during a power outage.

When you pour a glass of water from one of the kitchens at Castlewood Estates, it's clear something isn't quite right. The water looks more like a glass of Sprite and has a fizz to it.

"I was told by the maintenance man not to drink the water," one resident said. "Go buy bottled water if I could."

Residents are convinced there's methane gas in their drinking water. It isn't toxic, but it can become explosive if it's highly concentrated.

We asked Kyren Shimmin, the community manager, about the strange water.

"It's always been there," she said. "The system that takes it out, one of the motors went out."

She says the well's filtration system is out of service, but insists the Yuba County Health Department is aware, and the water is still safe to drink.

"If you hold it, it clears," she said. "I make my coffee out of it. I drink it. He makes his Kool-aid, wherever he went you know."

This isn't the first time methane concerns have been raised at the mobile home park .

The home that used to be in space No. 3 blew up several years back during a power outage. It seems the resident flushed a toilet, left a lit candle in the bathroom, and enough methane collected to cause the blast.

A county report shows after the incident that the water system tested high for methane.

Shimmin says residents shouldn't worry about the water.

Earl Tallman doesn't like it, but since he says he can't afford to leave, he'll wait for the filtration fix.

"It's terrible, terrible you have to live like that," he said.

So while residents may not be happy about this, it appears for now, nobody is moving out.

Shimmin hopes the filtration will be fixed by next week.