Greensboro Says City Water Is Safe. But Why Is It Brown?

Stained and ruined clothes. Clogged appliances. Water from faucets so brown it looks like sweet tea.

This is what residents in south Greensboro have been dealing with for the last year, said Keith Peterson, a resident of the Woodlea neighborhood. And it has felt like an uphill battle to get answers from the city as to why.

“We already had meetings,” Peterson said. “We’re at the point where there should have been some things in place to mitigate the problem. I think the only option is outside legal counsel.”

At East Market Seventh Day Adventist Church last Tuesday, more than 70 concerned residents gathered to discuss the problem with the water resources department and the city manager’s office. 

The city received hundreds of water discoloration complaints over the last year, spiking last summer and again this spring. Most came from residents living south of I-40. Around July last year, residents noticed discolored water coming out of their pipes. In March, the city spent $400,000 on a water quality study in south Greensboro. They received those results in August. 

According to the city, iron and manganese are the culprits of the murkiness. Anything above 0.02 milligrams per liter (mg/L) of manganese can discolor water. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s guidelines for maximum amounts of iron in drinking water is 0.3 mg/L, and 0.05 mg/L for manganese.

Different areas of Greensboro get their water from different treatment plants. Water comes from the Townsend Water Treatment Plant (WTP), Mitchell WTP, Burlington WTP, and Reidsville WTP. The southern part of the city gets its water from the Piedmont Triad Regional Water Authority, or PTRWA, which sources its drinking water from Randleman Lake. PTRWA also sends water to High Point and Jamestown. According to the city, all of its drinking water sources are safe and exceed regulatory requirements.

PTRWA’s plant has two modes for treating water—split and series.

“It’s kind of like sport mode versus economy mode in a car,” Water Resources Director Mike Borchers said.

While it’s more efficient and cost-effective, using split mode lets more manganese into the water, which can also give it an unpleasant smell and taste.

The study found that with split mode, the water contained over 0.035 mg/L of manganese, while series mode took it down to a little less than 0.02 mg/L. Also, the water never reached the EPA’s warning level for manganese, Borchers said, which is 0.3 mg/L.

The discolored water is unpredictable, resident Cheryl McIvor told The Assembly. Sometimes it’s there, then it’s gone. But it always comes back.

“On and off,” McIvor said. Always on and off.”

Over time, high levels of manganese can lead to the loss of memory, attention, and motor skills, and infants may develop learning and behavior problems, according to the National Institutes of Health.

In recent years, the city has expanded its water distribution system to keep pace with rapid growth. This means sending water in different directions, Borchers explained, which disrupts the sediment, another factor of the discoloration.

“Whenever you change the equilibrium, the system reacts,” Borchers said. “Sometimes it reacts with low pressure. Sometimes it reacts with discolored water.”

The city’s next steps include unidirectional flushing, a method of cleaning pipes and removing accumulated deposits. That’ll wrap up early next year in southeast and southwest Greensboro before moving to flush south Greensboro, which will take several more months.

As the meeting wrapped up, City Manager Trey Davis said that they’d need to have another community event to bring back solutions in a quick fashion.

The city is also switching its method of disinfecting water from using chloramine to free chlorine, Borchers said, and is willing to provide additional flushing to the community if odor persists.

Residents who have been living with these issues for over a year say that’s not enough. The odd color was concerning, they said, but it’s creating financial hurdles, too. They’re buying bottled water. It’s affecting appliances that impact the day-to-day lives of people like Peterson, who noticed a decrease in his shower’s water pressure.

“The whole plumbing system in my house was brand new,” he said.

When he took the shower head off and peered in, he saw brown buildup blocking the filter.

“I turned [the water] on and a shot of brown water came out,” he said. It’s sporadic, too.

“You never know when it’s going to turn brown,” he said.

During the meeting, some residents pushed for compensation. Others were afraid for their health.

“You’re asking the most underserved area of the south to bear the burden of this first,” said Crystal Black, who is running for city council in District 1. “If I’ve got to replace my hot water heater, I guess that’s okay with you. ‘Just endure, Crystal, just endure,’ ‘… 2026, we’re gonna get there, we’re coming, but right now we’re addressing the southwest and southeast.’”

“I have great respect for the efforts you’ve given,” Black said. “But there’s just a reality of where we’re at.” 

“I need my water to be where I can drink it because I already have issues with my kidneys,” said resident Lora Hinson, who has lupus.“Forget about the color. I’m worried about my insides.”

“I have to bathe in the water. I have to cook with it,” Hinson said. “I shouldn’t have to go buy a device. I’ve got to pay for extra stuff to make sure that my water is clear and clean so I can drink it and stay healthy.”

Editor’s note: The original version of this story misidentified the Greensboro City Council district in which Crystal Black is seeking a seat. It has been corrected.