A stinky situation in Brunswick County

There’s nothing like a cold glass of water to cool you down on a hot day. Rosalind Hewett says there nothing refreshing about the water coming out of her faucet.

“Have you ever been to a pond, where there is all that green stuff in the middle, and it just smells…musty, thats the only thing I can say it just smells musty.”

The water coming out of the pump station in Shallotte looks clear and safe to drink. But residents who smelled the water say they’re not so sure about the safety.

Hewett’s granddaughter is coming to visit, so she went out to the store and stocked up on bottled water.

“I don’t know that it’s safe to be drinking this water, no one has told us anything, she said.” So I went out and bought water because I don’t want her taking a risk.”

Brunswick County Utilities Director Jerry Pierce says the water is completely safe to drink.

“I live in Leland and I drink the water everyday,” Pierce said.

The county uses raw water from the Lower Cape Fear River. A bloom of algae has caused the water to have a slight odor. The county is treating it with carbon, and beginning to flush out the system starting at the north end of the county, moving south.

“It just takes us a long time to get it out of our system, because of the size of our system. We provide water from one end of the county to the other, about 900 miles of water mains we have to get it out of,” Pierce said.

In the meantime, Hewett says she’s gonna stick to the clear, odorless water that comes in a bottle.