Bright pink water has flushed out of a Canadian town’s water system.
Onoway in central Alberta saw its drinking water from tap running bright pink. Complaints from some of its 1,000 residents began to pour into the town office and on social media on March 6.
Spring In The Taps?
In a CBC report, resident Sheila Pockett recalled being asked by her husband as to why pink water was coming out of their faucet and eventually clearing up after running for about five minutes.
Pockett seemed to take it lightly, even dubbing the incident “spring in the taps” in reference to the forthcoming season. But she wished the town warned them earlier about the pink water and any potential harm.
But does the strangely colored water actually cause harm?
Town mayor Dale Krasnow dismissed any potential public health risk but admitted that their authorities “could have done a better job communicating what was going on.” He said the weird pinkness was a side effect of a common water treatment chemical known as potassium permanganate.
“We were never advised by Alberta Environment to issue a public advisory and all indications are that there was never a public health risk,” Krasnow said in the official statement posted on the Onoway website.
The color was the result of the chemical being used during routine line flushing, he noted. During normal line flushing and filter backwashing, a valve appeared to have stuck open, letting the chemical enter the sump reservoir.
The reservoir had been drained yet some of the potassium permanganate — commonly incorporated in treatment processes to remove iron and manganese — still made its way into the water system, the statement read further.
“We ask all residents and businesses to leave your taps running until your water is clear,” Krasnow said.
Alberta Environment inspected the water lines on March 7, seeking to complete all needed repairs by end of the day.
Potassium Salt In Focus
Also known as potassium salt, potassium permanganate is a chemical disinfectant typically used for removing iron and hydrogen sulfide from well and waste water. It is not highly toxic, yet concentrated amounts can still cause harm to the skin.
As a potent oxidizer akin to chlorine, permanganate can lead to irritation or even burns when the undiluted salt comes into direct contact with skin.
Apart from water treatment, the chemical is also used for treating fish diseases and parasites, as it cures bacterial gill infections and skin ulcers. It also improves water quality, and can be beneficial as a pest and parasite-controlling agent in aquariums.
On the medicinal front, potassium permanganate can be used as an antiseptic and fungicide. Those suffering from wounds with pus and blisters may have a potassium permanganate bath, as long as the solution is dilute.
In the United States, a much more serious public water supply issue struck Flint in Michigan, where increased lead levels from thousands of service lines were detected and heralded a water crisis since 2015. Thousands of the city’s lead pipes remain and will likely take a number of years to be replaced, making water filters massively important in the meantime.
