Walhalla — The City of Walhalla is aware of the recent water discoloration; and our water crews have been diligently working to remediate this. The recent temperature inversion in Lake Keowee appears to have brought small amounts of iron and manganese into the system. These small amounts are enough to cause discoloration in the water as it leaves the plant and in the distribution system. As of this morning, the water leaving the plant had no discoloration; and the
color should be working its way out of the system as we continue to perform flushing maintenance. SC DHEC is aware of the situation and our efforts to correct the issue.
We became aware of the issue over the weekend, with crews responding heavily on Saturday. There is no boil water advisory. We routinely test the water, but iron and manganese are not usually included. Our water plant is making adjustments to include these moving forward. A higher level of iron and manganese can affect color but is not harmful.
On June 18, a contractor (not associated with the City) damaged a private fire line that connected to our system. As this was a break in the line, a boil water advisory was issued. This is separate and is not related to the discoloration.
We are committed to providing safe drinking water and continual improvements to our water system to ensure its quality. We have several water system projects both on-going and planned to begin this year. These projects, and other system line maintenance, amount to over $10,000,000 of investments, and are made possible through multiple funding sources.
A copy of our most recent CCR annual report can be found on our website – www.cityofwalhalla.com
