A water main break that occurred on Mitchell Lane in Bridgehampton, on Saturday, may or may not be the culprit behind the discolored water coming out of taps in Bridgehampton, according to the Suffolk County Water Authority.
“The Suffolk County Water Authority is aware of reports of rusty water in the Bridgehampton area, primarily around Lumber Lane. We are actively investigating the situation and keeping customers informed as updates become available,” said Daniel Dubois, the water authority’s director of communications. “We want to assure residents that the water remains safe to drink, with no impacts to health. We recommend that customers run their water for a few minutes to flush the water in their plumbing.”
That wasn’t doing it for Eva Faye, however, who lives on Lumber Lane. “Our water has been brownish since Saturday,” she said, adding that before Tuesday afternoon, when she contacted the media, the water authority was “not telling us very much at all.”
Dai Dayton said that when her daughter, who lives on the Bridgehampton-Sag Harbor Turnpike, called the water authority on Tuesday, there were 107 callers in line ahead of her.
“They claim it’s just iron,” said Ms. Dayton, “but I’m afraid to use it and I can’t get a real answer about it. They told me they were sending someone Sunday, but no one came. They said they were sending somebody Monday, but no one came. They said if it was my fault, it would cost me $200. How could it be my fault?”
Ms. Dayton said her daughter also noticed brown water at Citarella in Bridgehampton when she used a bathroom sink.
“They told us they’ve been flushing the hydrants since the main break and it seems like the water is getting less brown, but they’re not saying when it will pass,” said Ms. Faye. “I asked a customer service representative if the water was safe to drink. She said ‘Yes,’ but when I asked if she would drink it, she wouldn’t answer.”
“Rust doesn’t have any health impacts,” Mr. Dubois said. “We understand it doesn’t look great, but it doesn’t impact the safety of the water.” He said the water main break may very likely be the cause, but it was too early to know definitively. He said it was unclear how many residents had been impacted but that the water authority has received “more than 10 complaints” which caused it, on Tuesday, to send a notification to 1,500 customers in the area. He said the main break did not result in any immediate complaints coming into the water authority.
However, that story didn’t jibe with Ms. Dayton’s who said that she, and many of her neighbors, had been calling the water authority since Sunday, to minor effect. “They told me to run my water for 20 minutes and then it would settle it out. That didn’t work.”
Ms. Faye said that if the rust-colored water was enough to discolor clothing, it was enough for her not to want to drink it. She has been drinking bottled water as a precaution.
“This has happened before,” she said, “But it has cleared up within a day. It’s now been four days. The water authority sent us an amazing email on Thursday about how superior their product is to bottled water, but then this happened with no warning at all. They just said run the water as much as you can.”
“The water main break is likely related to the temperature,” said Mr. Dubois. “When the temperature drops, there’s shifting in the ground, and it makes water mains more likely to break.” Several things could be responsible for the rusty water, he said. “A fire hydrant could have been left open. We have crews investigating.”
Indeed, over the weekend, Suffolk County Water Authority crews were observed on Mitchell Lane, with strong flows of water running south down the road toward a ditch just north and west of the Hayground School.
Mr. Dubois said if residents experience rusty water, to call the S.C.W.A. customer care center. “These events happen, and we need to know about them. We expect this to clear over time.”
“We’ve called,” said Ms. Dayton. “Where are they? What are they doing? I feel like someone hit something. They don’t seem certain about any of it. It’s very strange.”
