‘It looks like pee’: Radium Springs residents disgusted by their water
RADIUM SPRINGS, New Mexico -- The water that drips out of faucets, gushes from water hoses and flushes toilets in many Radium Springs homes appears to be yellow or dark brown.
"I would call it pee water," said Toni Portillo, who has lived in the area for almost 23 years. "It's a yellowish, brownish tint. It looks like pee."
Portillo feels her water is unsafe to drink. She is also frustrated by having to constantly rewash her dishes and laundry.
"We have to go to somebody else's house to take a shower," Portillo said. "My head gets itchy when I take a shower."
“It looks like water taken straight out of the river," said Ricky Christian, who worries the water will affect his young daughters. "The last two and a half weeks it’s been consistent: every day.”
Christian estimates his water bill is between $50 and $100 every month.
“We’re not getting what we pay for," said Tiffany Swift, who refuses to drink the water for health reasons. She has one kidney and half her thyroid.
“With this particular water company, we always have problems," Swift said.
The executive director of the Doña Ana Mutual Domestic Water Consumers Association suspects a local contractor near the homes might be to blame for the water color.
The utility company charges construction companies to use fire hydrants in the area to refill their tanks, said Jennifer Horton, the executive director of the utility company.
"When they open the valve too quickly, it causes the water to flow at a higher velocity through the water lines," Horton told ABC-7. "That's what creates the disturbance and causes the iron and manganese that has settled to the bottom of the pipe to be disturbed."
She said the reddish brown color is iron mixed with the water and the black is the manganese mixed with the water.
"People think we have a way of knowing these things, and we don't unless the public notifies us," Horton said. "If they call us when it's happening, we'll send our staff out to flush the system to get that out."
