RAMSEUR, N.C. — Ramseur Town Council held an emergency meeting Friday to address concerns about brown drinking water.
Town officials said the issue is improving and the water is safe to drink. Yet many people in the town are holding off.
The discoloration in the water has many factors but the main one is manganese town leaders said.
How does manganese get into the water?
Hot and dry weather can cause reservoir temperatures to go up. It causes minerals like manganese to rise out of the soil under the lake and into the water.
It ends up in the water supply and comes out of faucets with a brown tinge.
A few other communities have seen manganese in their water since late summer.
What are the other factors?
Commissioners said the other issue that may be slowing down the water clearing process is the town's outdated water system and lines. Fully replacing those lines would cost about 30 million dollars, money the town doesn't have.
Recently, the town was awarded a seven-million-dollar grant to help fix the water infrastructure, but they are still waiting to receive those funds.
"The state knows we have a problem, we know we have a problem. We gotta remedy that problem," said Ramseur Mayor Pro Tem Jim McIntosh. "The way we do that is we spend more money, take better care of our infrastructure. Take better care of our people."
Many have speculated if the construction of the Greensboro-Randolph Megasite Toyota Battery Plant may have caused the brown water.
A North Carolina Environmental Quality Department employee made a mistake in the report by saying Toyota was out of compliance with stormwater regulations. That report has since been corrected and re-issued to show that are in compliance with those guidelines.
WFMY News 2's Grace Holland reached out to the North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality for more information. We are waiting to hear back from them.
Toyota was able to share the following in response:
"The North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality recently confirmed in a Sedimentation/Construction Stormwater Inspection Report, that the Greensboro-Randolph Megasite is in compliance with applicable stormwater regulations. Toyota will continue to work alongside the North Carolina Department of Transportation as it performs the site development activity to ensure the future home of Toyota Battery Manufacturing, North Carolina remains in compliance with all applicable government regulations. Environmental preservation is a priority for Toyota, and we are committed to developing the property sustainably and will be working to further understand the concerns that have been raised."
Ramseur will clean basins at its water plant every three months to prevent discoloration. Town leaders said the water should be clear next week.
In the meantime, people can run their taps and drink bottled water but again, leaders said the water is safe to use.
