Discolored, poor-tasting water an everyday struggle for Norton residents

NORTON, Mass. — For several years, residents of Norton have had to deal with dirty water containing iron and manganese.

Not only do these metals discolor the water, residents say it also tastes like pennies.

For more than three years the town has been working on a solution, and Water Superintendent Bernie Marshall said it could be another two years before it's finished because of the possibility of Wompanoag Indian artifacts on the site plot..

"The facility probably would have already been built and in operation if we did not have this archeological incident occur," he said.

The water treatment facility he's referring to will treat 2 million gallons of water a day, but before construction can begin an archeological survey of the area needs to take place. Archeologists will have to scour 18 inches of soil across two acres to ensure no artifacts are hidden beneath the surface.

That means residents will have to wait, after a problem that's lingered as long as a decade.

"I can't give [my children] baths tonight, I'm going to have to brush their teeth with bottled water, I can't wash laundry," Shelly Christie said.

Residents like Christie say the problem is sporadic; water might be clean all morning then brown in the afternoon.

"This is the worst I've ever seen the water its mud," another resident said.

With no solution, the water department is making trips to neighborhoods were the problem is appearing to flush hydrants. That water then goes into a catch basin, then rivers and streams, and eventually back into the aquifer where it is recycled.

The archeological survey is set to begin Tuesday, with ground-breaking scheduled for for spring of 2017. If all goes according to plan, the facility will begin operations 12 to 18 months later.

Cox Media Group