MARION, Ark. — For the last six months, some living in Marion, Arkansas, say they’ve dealt with discolored and murky water that they must bathe, cook and do laundry with.
“Today, it’s kind of yellow,” said Marion resident Lydia Butler, who said it is a guessing game every time she turns her water on. “I never really know what kind of color I’m going to get.”
Despite assurances from Marion city leadership that the water is safe to drink, residents say they want more answers.
“The water has sediment in it, it's discolored,” Butler says. “Sometimes it's a light green, sometimes it might be a gold color…I have not had clear water in quite a while.”
Butler and others in Marion photos with ABC24 and on social media, outlining what they say their water looked like at times during the last six months.
“I've called the water department and they say that they do regularly test the water to make sure that the drinking levels are safe and healthy,” Butler said. “I mean, I guess I believe them.”
ABC24 reached out to Marion Mayor Tracy Brick, who declined to be interviewed on camera or recorded over the phone. But she did offer several comments regarding the water situation.
Mayor Brick said the water system is tested weekly and is “within the ranges that the Arkansas Department of Health deemed safe.”
The mayor said the city has not received a noticeable increase in calls about brown or discolored water during the last six to eight months.
She said the city is planning to install another well but added that “the process for (installing a well) is probably about a two-year process but those plans are in place.”
In the meantime, Butler and others still feel uneasy.
“I am not drinking any of the water right now,” she said.
ABC24 reached out to the Arkansas Department of Health for the latest test results for the Marion water system. Data shows the Bacteriological sample results for Marion Waterworks over the last 30 days were all safe.