Some residents of Norwest Drive in Carbondale say they are tired of dirty water coming out of their faucets and do not think city officials have done an adequate job of working on a solution.

Jim Swayze, Carbondale Water Operations manager, said Carbondale purchased the Murdale Water System in 1983 and inherited corrosive pipes. He said some have been replaced, but now pipes on Norwest Drive have turned corrosive as well.

He said the pipes on Norwest are on the end of the pipe system with no return pipe to continue the flow of water, causing a buildup of minerals and corrosion. Until a loop (a continuous pipe to keep the water running) is created, residents will have dirty water, he said.

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Swayze said in an attempt to clean the water on Norwest Drive until a permanent solution is found, the city has opened valves on two fire hydrants to let the water spill out on the ground and keep a continuous flow of water through the pipes. Some residents said the water still is dirty, however.

Juanita and Carroll Crackel, 901 Norwest Drive, have one of the hydrants in their yard. Juanita Crackel said the hydrant has been running since July 1994.

They came out in the summer and said this would clean the water, she said. They shut it off that winter and turned it on last spring (1995), and it has been running ever since.

Juanita Crackel said the water still is dirty, and she said there are more problems now.

The vacant lot next to us fills up with water, and mosquitoes breed there, she said. One house a few blocks over paid for an exterminator, and the exterminator said nothing can be done because the constant flow of water washes his insecticide away.

Bob Kolkmeyer, SIUC associate professor of aviation who lives on Norwest Drive, said his wife, Willa, has had nurse uniforms ruined in the wash by the dirty water.

Despite the hydrants running, the water still stains some clothes, he said. You can see the mineral deposits. On some days it depends on how much the other residents use the water whether it will be clean or not.

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Kolkmeyer also said part of his bath mat is stained brown from the water. He said he had his water heater replaced when an old one broke down and said the water that was drained out of the old heater was brown with mineral deposits at the bottom.

Swayze said the city is having trouble obtaining easements (permission of property owners to go through their land or work on it) which will allow them to create a loop with the water line, fix a portion of the pipe and solve the current problem. He also said the city replaced one major line on Striegel Road last year.

However, residents like Mary Flanigan, 1002 Norwest Drive, said the city is giving them the run-around and is not explaining the situation to them.

The city has been too slow about this problem, Flanigan said. Our property taxes have gone way up, and they haven’t fixed the water problem.

Wayne Wheels, Carbondale Maintenance and Environmental Services manager, said the corrosion and mineral deposits leaking on the ground do not pose a threat to the soil.

Swayze said the department is trying to solve the problem and is working on its third easement to connect the pipe to create the loop.

We do not know when we will complete the project, Swayze said.

Crackel said she wishes the city could understand their situation.

He (Swayze) should drink my water and see it when I wipe my glass with a towel, and it has orange on it from the water, she said.