BOISE, Idaho — What if you turned on the tap in your house and the water came out brown?
For thousands of residents in the Boise Bench area, that's been a reality for several years now.
Over the next couple of weeks, SUEZ Water is conducting specialized flushing in the Bench neighborhoods to try and clear out the discolored water.
"It’s horrible – the glass will be brown," Debbie Holmes, who lives on the Bench, describes. "Your first clue is you look in the toilet and it looks like someone peed in it, then sometimes it gets darker. And you know you’re not going to drink that stuff and you don’t want to shower, or bathe, or wash your clothes or wash your dishes because it’s just gross.”
Holmes said two years ago, her husband got really sick and even spent some time in the hospital. He was diagnosed with campylobacter - an illness the CDC states can be caused by things like undercooked meat or contaminated water.
Two others on the Holmes' street also got sick - and Debbie believes it could have been the neighborhood water because to her, it's the only thing that makes sense.
“If you have three instances on one street and there’s no contact between the people socially - they don’t eat together, they don’t hang out together - you have to assume there’s another cause,” she said.
According to Holmes, the only common factor between the three people who got sick was the water.
However, the water company said it is extremely unlikely it was SUEZ water that caused the illness - and that discolored water does not automatically mean it carries bacteria. Jane Kreller, SUEZ communications manager, said while the brown water in Bench area is bad to look at, it is safe.
About the campylobacter, SUEZ sent KTVB a detailed statement:
"We understand our Bench customers are tired of dealing with discolored water. We don’t blame them. They are frustrated, and we hear them. We expect good results from this year’s enhanced flushing plan. Flushing is an integral part of system maintenance, and will serve the community well as we plan for more permanent solutions.
What happened to Ms. Holmes’ husband and neighbors is terrible, and I hope they made a full and speedy recovery.
Campylobacter is commonly spread by undercooked chicken and can be present in irrigation water. SUEZ’ programs for back flow protection and system disinfection make it highly unlikely for irrigation water to enter the drinking water system. But it can happen when residential backflip devices go untested.
We would like to remind everyone to have their backflow devices checked annually. Your backflow device prevents irrigation water, and any contaminants, from entering your home water system. It’s a state requirement, and a matter of public safety."
Holmes also said the fact the water is brown at all has been frustrating. She added she's glad to see SUEZ Water really trying to fix the problem - and she'd like to see them come up with a permanent solution.
“This is a great neighborhood, great place to live," she said. "It’d be even greater if our infrastructure worked.”
Right now, SUEZ is doing specialized flushing it first tried in the spring of 2018 - but its now doubling its efforts.
“It’s called unidirectional flushing and it focuses the water very carefully and scientifically one direction down a main and flushes out all of the mineral deposits and really scours the main,” Kreller said.
Crews open up the water hydrants and let them run for 15 to 20 minutes - until the water comes out clear.
“The really neat thing about the unidirectional flushing is it looks like a ton of water but it actually uses about half the water of traditional flushing,” she said.
According to Kreller, this type of flushing was specifically implemented for the Bench neighborhoods because of that water discoloration.
“Last year we did this in the spring – we had great results," she said. "The calls dropped off dramatically, we know it works.”
So this year, SUEZ will be conducting the flushing process twice a year - once in the spring, then again in the fall.
“It’s not a long-term solution," Kreller added. "We know this. But we’re hoping it makes things manageable until we can implement the long-term solutions.”
A long-term solution, Kreller said, would be to replace the older pipes in the Bench from metal to plastic, but that takes time and money to do. Kreller said they also can't tear up all the Bench neighborhoods at one time.
SUEZ is looking at its budget for the next few years to see when crews can start replacing some of the older pipes.
In the meantime, Kreller said if you have brown water, call SUEZ customer service at 208-362-7304 and let them know. She said its important for them to hear from their customers and they are working to address all concerns.
"We expect good results from this year’s double flushing, and are focused on figuring out more permanent solutions," she said. "We are also working to rebuild the relationship with our customers."
For those who call customer service, SUEZ will give out instructions on how to flush your system to clear out the water. Customers will also be given a $1.50 credit on their water bill.
Kreller said while crews are doing the specialized flushing, expect some brown water for a few days until the system completely cleans itself out.
If the brown water is still around after that, call SUEZ.