Water tower repairs causing brown water

The water tank next to South Side High School is getting a makeover, and residents are getting rusty water.

While the water tank is out of commission for rehabilitation and painting, residents in the northeast section of the village will receive their water from primarily the Maple Avenue well, with some help from the well near Molloy College. The village has warned people that the water, while safe, has a rusty appearance. “Those wells have high iron content,” said Harry Weed, superintendent of the water department. “It’s just the iron content in the groundwater.”

The village has said that clothing and fixture stains can be removed with detergents such as Oxiclean.

Paid for by $2 million from the water budget, the water tank will be sandblasted and painted, as well as upgrades to the lights inside the tube of the tank and safety features.

“The inside of the tank is done,” said Weed. “We’re now doing the outside of the tank. We can’t put it back in service because the tank is not complete.” Right now the water tank is covered in a white wrapping to contain the debris from the sandblasting. After the tank is repaired, it must be sanitized and tested for quality and health before it can be put back in service.

The wells next to the tank, 1A and 1B, cannot be used while the tank is not being used. There is a filtration plant that works with the tank. Weed said he hopes to have the tank back in operation in middle-late July, weather permitting.