Brown water coming from the tap is a bit unsettling to see. Concerns poured in on Friday after some Vernal City residents noticed varying degrees of discolored water. Vernal City shared that the issue was caused by a utility contractor that hit a water line located at approximately 50 West and 500 North causing high flows in some water lines throughout the city. “High flow will sometimes stir up reddish to brown film from the inside of the pipe,” shared their announcement, which emphasized that in the past when this has happened the water has tested safe to drink. Still, those that had brown water coming from their tap were told they could consider using bottled water for consumptive use until test results came in. On Saturday, Vernal City announced that water samples taken Friday afternoon after the broken water line event had been processed and all tests passed. The brownish water some customers saw tested ok to drink. The Vernal City Water Department worked quickly to fix the damaged pipe, restoring flows to typical. The brown tint will continue to lessen as water is cycled through the pipes.
