Bountiful residents turning on water, finding it’s green

BOUNTIFUL, Utah — St. Patrick’s Day is behind us, but Bountiful residents are still seeing green — in their water.

A few weeks ago, Jesse Stone and his family noticed their water turning green.

“We drink all the water. We drink it from the tap. We drink it from our fridge,” Stone said.

Raising red, or in this case, green flags, Stone said it’s concerning seeing the colored water.

“Is it going to affect our children’s skin? We got kids with really sensitive skin. Got a 20-month-old little baby boy; we fill up his bottles every night with this water,” he said.

He’s not the only one seeing green. Other Bountiful residents are, too.

“You don’t want to turn into a Flint, Michigan,” Stone said.

Jesse Stone is a dad with young kids.

He said he started noticing the water in his tub start turning green a few weeks ago.

Now, he’s wondering if it’s safe for his kids to drink, especially his 20 month old, who is drinking bottles made with this water. @KSL5TV pic.twitter.com/JnudNJqv4E

— Karah Brackin (@KB_ON_TV) April 8, 2022

Kraig Christensen, director of the Bountiful City Water Department, says rest assured.

“The old treatment plan had a charcoal in it that was part of the filtration that would get rid of the color. Now, we have an ultra filtration plant treatment that doesn’t treat the color out of it,” he said.

He said there’s a reason for the water showing up green.

“The color itself is from the organics that are in the water. It’s running over the grass and the vegetation that’s starting to grow,” Christensen said.

He said the water is tested every week for the state and in Davis County. The last samples ran Monday and came back normal. Other tests did, too.

“Sent ’em out to different labs throughout the country, talked to the Division of Drinking Water, sent those same water samples up to Weber Basin — everything came back with the water perfectly fine,” he said.

There’s also a reason why more Bountiful residents are seeing colored water.

“With the runoff from the snow melt, that is good water that comes down through the treatment plant. We’re able to fill up reservoirs throughout the system without having to run our wells and put the wells to use right now so that we can utilize it later when the snow melt is gone,” Christensen said.

Christensen said the treatment plant is treating a thousand gallons a minute.

The colored water is expected for at least a few more weeks.