Residents in Hunters Crest spent Sunday afternoon prepping for the Vikings game and wondering if the purple water coming out of their taps was merely a prank made by a city employee. While some thought of it a hilarious coincidence by posting "SKOL!" and "Even Minnetrista Bleeds Purple" it spurred other conversations from residents about filing class action lawsuits. Residents have had a LONG history of bad water but this last episode has been the "straw that broke the camels back". Around 3pm yesterday residents started noticing the discolored water and took quickly to a private Facebook page to post pictures and concerns. Almost 24 hours later and residents are still seeing purple running in the water even after multiple hydrant flashings the city organized to help combat the problem. They also told multiple residents that it was safe to use and drink while the MHD told residents a different story urging residents to in NO WAY ingest the water. As a resident of Hunters Crest I am very disappointed that it took until noon today for the city to post any information on their website about the incident and that we were not contacted directly via email or phone calls to be told what they are doing to try and solve the problem. Here is a link to where you can see updates on this city-wide fail.
Dear Resident,
MDH is aware of the pink water complaints in Minnetrista.
The city has had problems with their permanganate chemical feed at the water treatment plant, resulting in a pink water incident. The permanganate is used by the city help remove iron and manganese out of the water. The city has turned off the chemical feed pump to make repairs. When your utility has notified you that they have completed flushing of the distribution system and that the water is safe to drink, you should run the water from all your plumbing fixtures until the pink water turns clear.
Water with permanganate can have higher than normal manganese and have a pink color. For health information about manganese please see our website:
Manganese in Drinking Water (
http://www.health.state.mn.us/.../contamin.../manganese.html)
The city is updating their messaging to residents and the media, telling them to:
(1) flush their plumbing systems, and
(2) not drink the water when it is pink.
Please contact your city for the most up-to-date information and guidance.
Anna Jeanne Schliep
Compliance Engineer
