FAQs • Onslow Water and Sewer Authority • CivicEngage

What causes the brown of yellow tinge in my water at times?: There are naturally occurring mineral in your water. These include iron, manganese, calcium, chloride and other dissolved minerals. The dissolved iron in the water will react with the chlorine and come out of the dissolved state. This iron settles to the bottom of our pipes and will lay there until disturbed by unusually high flow rates, such as fire department use, or a break in the line. This causes the iron to mix back into the water and cause a yellow or brown tinge. This water, though unsightly, is not a public health threat. These incidences usually clear within a few hours. If the problem persists you can call the office to report the problem.

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Water Division

1. How do I know my water is safe to drink?: Potable water from both the water treatment plants and the well field is treated with chlorine for disinfection purposes and these levels are monitored daily. ONWASA also performs daily, weekly, monthly and yearly sampling according to State and Federal rules to ensure the water meets Safe Drinking Water Standards.
We also rely on you the customer to report any water quality issues you may experience at your home. For a full list of water quality sampling ONWASA conducts please view EPA’s Drinking Water Watch.

2. Why do I see staff opening fire hydrants and wasting water?: We conduct routine and non-routine flushing from these hydrants to remove debris after a main break, to freshen water in dead end lines, and to do water quality checks when there have been reported problems.

4. Why do you add chlorine to my water?: ONWASA adds chlorine to your water as a disinfectant. This ensures the water in our distribution system remains bacteria free. The average chlorine content in the system is 0.80 ppm. Normally the chlorine cannot be smelled or tasted at this level.

5. What is the hardness of my water?: Depending on where you live, your water can range from 12 ppm to 80 ppm. Areas supplied by the water treatment plants have a higher hardness than those supplied by the Black Creek well field. Softer water tends to make your skin feel slick after showering and harder water does not produce suds as well as softer water.

6. What causes the brown of yellow tinge in my water at times?: There are naturally occurring mineral in your water. These include iron, manganese, calcium, chloride and other dissolved minerals. The dissolved iron in the water will react with the chlorine and come out of the dissolved state. This iron settles to the bottom of our pipes and will lay there until disturbed by unusually high flow rates, such as fire department use, or a break in the line. This causes the iron to mix back into the water and cause a yellow or brown tinge. This water, though unsightly, is not a public health threat. These incidences usually clear within a few hours. If the problem persists you can call the office to report the problem.

7. Will ONWASA sample my water for contaminates?: ONWASA routinely performs 100 bacteriological samples throughout the distribution system. Although your home may not be personally tested the area you live in is represented in the sampling. The amount of chlorine is tested daily and once again your area is represented in these daily samples.
Certain tests such as lead and copper can only be sampled from homes meeting a certain criteria as there are no elevated levels of lead and copper in your source water.
All other sampling performed on your water is from the source and if no contaminants are found in the source the chances of them being found in our distribution system and therefore your home a very minimal.
If you are concerned about a particular regulated contaminant being in your home, there are independent laboratories that will analyze your water and ONWASA will be happy to provide you with those contact numbers.