by Malcolm Butler
Some Ruston residents have seen some discoloration in the water at their homes recently.
According to city officials, the discoloration is being caused by testing currently being conducted by UtiliServe, LLC.
The testing (flushing of the water system) began on June 12 and will continue thru June 26 and is impacting mostly residents who live north of I-20 and west of Highway 167. This is a testing process that is done every year, cycling through all 11 wells during a five-year period.
“We did it in 2022, 2023, and 2024,” said Freeman. “This is 2025. Next year will be the northeast area. This is mandated by the state that every five years this unit directional flushing is completed for all wells. Every five years we flush our entire system. This is the fourth year of that five-year plan.
“Within that area, there is a grid pattern that they will be doing over the course of those 15 days.”
Freeman explained that over the course of time, water lines build up corrosion. Thus, the unit directional flushing is used to clean out the lines.
“There are predominately two wells that supply that area,” said John Freeman, Public Works Director. “It’s Well No. 8 behind the Fire Station and Well No. 9 on West Kentucky just past the four-way stop.”
Freeman and Walker both stressed that the water is perfectly good to drink, regardless of the color of it.
“We have had (UtiliServe) doing major testing on fire hydrants,” said Walker. “They are putting chlorine into the water, dialing it up and down, testing the fire hydrants to find out the results.”
This testing (adding chlorine) turns the water different colors, ranging from brown to green to blue to clear. The color of the water is dictated by the amount of chlorine that is in it.
“The water is perfectly fine to drink, regardless of the color of it,” said Walker. “It’s perfectly fine. We know it looks bad, but there is nothing wrong with the water. It’s simply a different color because of the level of chlorine in it due to these tests.”
The City is asking residents in the aforementioned area (north of I-20, west of 167) to respond to the company through email with pertinent information in order to help them.
According to the City of Ruston Facebook page, city officials are asking residents to email [email protected] “to document this information by including their address, time of day noticed (the color of the water) and any other helpful information.”
“That’s how they track to see what is going on with the water,” said Walker. “That is the most important part of this the entire conversation. If people will let (UtiliServe) know they can match it up with what they were doing (testing-wise) at that time and day. The more information they can get, the better.”
While the unit directional flushing is the main source of recent water discoloration, Walker said there was also some testing being done on the iron level in Ruston water. Iron levels also cause discoloration of water.
“We were getting too much iron in the water,” said Walker. “Anything in north Louisiana has iron in it. But we were getting too much, and we are trying to figure out where it is coming from. Was it a problem with the well? Was it a problem with the lines? That’s what we are trying to determine.
“The problem with water … if you have a leak, we can find it because we can see the water. But if it’s something in the water that is coming out of the Sparta … is it a problem with a well casing? There are all kinds of things like that.”
Freeman said the Ruston water is tested monthly per the Louisiana Department of Health.
The iron levels impact all eleven wells in the Ruston area.
“If you live in north Louisiana you are going to have iron in your water,” said Walker. “The LDH comes monthly to do tests, sometimes more often than that. But all of our water tests are fine. We understand it’s discolored so it looks bad, but it’s safe.”
“There is water quality, and there is water clarity,” said Freeman.
