The City of La Pine is informing water customers that if their water appears milky lately, it’s due to air in the city’s mainlines.
In a release sent out Monday morning, the city said two 16-inch mainlines were tied into the existing water system last week, which resulted in an “abundance” of air in the system.
In addition to the water appearing milky, the city says there have been reports on Facebook that the water tastes different. The city says this is also due to the air in the system.
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The city says it tests the water twice a month and that there has been no positive tests for bacteria since May 2021. It also says the new lines were tested for bacteria multiple times before being connected and during the construction process.
City utility workers are flushing hydrants at high spots in the system to try pulling air out of the lines faster, the city says. That effort will continue for another couple of days.
The city says instances of air may appear in the water for another 7-10 days.
The public can view the test results for themselves by reaching out to Assistant City Manager Ashley Ivans at aivans@lapineoregon.gov or City Manager Geoff Wullschlager at gwullschlager@lapineoregon.gov.
