

On the northwestern edge of town, Brian and Anne Fellegy keep their kitchen stocked with cases of water. “I don’t even give the water to my dogs anymore.” “We deferred our mortgage payment for February so we could put this in,” Scholl said. She also recently purchased a house filtration system to combat the chlorine taste. She now buys cases of water and keeps a bottle by the sink to brush her teeth with.
Brooklyn mac cleaner skin#
Sara Scholl said she suspects the water changes are also at the root of new skin problems as well as her dogs’ bladder problems, both of which started last spring. Meanwhile, some residents say the chlorine stench is so strong that their shower smells like a swimming pool. “I’m a single parent and don’t have enough money to buy a household filter.” “It’s degrading to have such icky water,” Kempkes said. If the element is solid, “It’s much less of a concern,” Kelly said.īut the black flecks have Jessica Kempkes worried, especially when they fill the tub while her son is in it. There’s a difference between solidified manganese and manganese that’s dissolved in water, said Jim Kelly, who studies groundwater contaminants with the state Health Department. Health officials, however, say it shouldn’t be a cause for worry if it’s manganese. “What are we supposed to do? Bathe in chlorine water?”ĭark sediment spewing from faucets especially has raised alarm.

“We’re all nervous about it,” Bourque said. They say they’re at their wits’ end with the water. The city’s water supply, Lillehaug added, contains naturally high and changing levels of ammonia, making it tricky to fine-tune the amount of disinfectants.īut some residents point out that it has been months since the new process debuted. “It’s safer, it’s cheaper and it’s easier,” Lillehaug said.
Brooklyn mac cleaner free#
Last spring, the city fully switched to breakpoint chlorination, which rids the water of all naturally occurring ammonia and cleans it with free chlorines. “We have to give that some time so we can tweak it and work out what’s best,” said Mayor Tim Willson.īrooklyn Center used to feed an ammonia-chlorine compound, called chloramines, into the water to disinfect it.

The chlorine odor in some homes, officials said, stems from new water chemistry and a switch in the way the city is disinfecting its water. Tests show that Brooklyn Center’s water is within levels set by the federal Safe Drinking Water Act, according to the Minnesota Health Department. “The real issue is that our water is cleaner.” “There is no smoking gun here,” said Public Works Director and City Engineer Steve Lillehaug. The black specks muddying the tap water of others, officials said, is residual manganese being flushed out of the system - an issue they hope is temporary. “I’ve actually seen a big improvement,” said Amy Harth, adding that excess iron used to yellow her water. Since the new plant opened, manganese and iron have reached almost nondetectable levels, staffers said. The new treatment plant filters out the city’s once-high levels of iron as well as manganese, which research shows can pose health risks in higher concentrations. Others are uneasy about the black debris, some of it pebble-sized, spurting from their faucets.Ĭity officials insist the water is safe, while admitting that aesthetic issues are more than anticipated. Some residents worry that the water is resulting in withered plants, skin issues and sick pets. The issue also has hit local social media groups. Since the inner-ring suburb debuted a $20 million water treatment plant a year ago in January, about 200 complaints related to water have poured into the city.

“I don’t feel safe giving it to my daughter anymore,” she said.īourque’s worries underscore a concern shared by households scattered throughout the city: The water reeks of chlorine and sometimes contains black specks. Her mac and cheese “tasted like bleach” several months ago, and she has since shunned tap water for cooking. These days, when Julie Bourque whips up spaghetti for dinner in her Brooklyn Center kitchen, she keeps a jug of store-bought water nearby.
