Hempstead Town Creating Brown Water Task Force

Hempstead Town Supervisor Laura Gillen announced the formation of a new community task force, comprised of representatives from the town, New York American Water and local communities that have been reporting brown and discolored water coming out of their taps.

The task force will be charged with identifying hot spots and patterns where water discoloration issues are being discovered in order to assist New York American Water with more rapid responses to fixing the problem. Task force members will also share customer concerns, identify action items and report back to their communities on steps that New York American Water is taking to address their concerns.

“I am glad that residents will have a direct pipeline to New York American Water officials to get the information they need and provide feedback on the problems they are facing,” said Gillen, who requested the formation of a task force earlier this month after her office was inundated with calls from concerned residents. “Many ratepayers have been disgusted by bathtubs filled with brown water and the feeling that their concerns have been ignored. This will help customers hold New York American Water’s feet to the fire and lead to quicker and more sustainable solutions.”

New York American Water attributes the brown discoloration flowing out of some residential taps to higher levels of iron in the water, due to aging water mains and corrosion in pipes that are in the process of being replaced. Though not dangerous, it has raised concerns for thousands of families and businesses across the south shore of the Town of Hempstead, especially those living in the Five Towns.

Gillen said she will be appointing a dozen local residents from the communities that have reported issues with brown water to the task force.

“Residents deserve to be able to live without worrying about the quality of their water,” said Gillen. “This task force is an important step in providing our communities with the transparency, answers and peace of mind that they deserve.”