Using a dirty towel and a jug of brown water, North Grand Street resident Susan Carver gave Cobleskill Mayor Linda Holmes and trustees a show and tell Tuesday.
"This is the color of the water in my toilet and sinks," Ms. Carver said, holding up the jug, "and this is what was on my body," holding up the towel.
"This shouldn't be happening in the Village of Cobleskill.
It shouldn't, agreed Water Superintendent Joe Redmond, who said he's been working 60-to-70-hour weeks flushing mains, trying to keep the water lines clean.
"Since I've been coming to these meetings, I think this is the first time I've had more calls than the Police Department, he said after Chief Rich Bialkowski's report, drawing light laughter.
The problem, Mr. Redmond said, isn't with the plant's operators or its equipment, but rather the village's antiquated 1886 cast iron water lines.
"The water leaves the plant crystal clear," he said, but when something stirs the system up, sediment discolors the water.
Fire Chief Richard Cooper took responsibility for that something; the previous night at the Fairgrounds, he said, firefighters at a training session had to practice opening and closing the hydrants.
He's given orders that the hydrants are only to be used in emergencies.
"I apologize."
But Chief Cooper, who lives at the top of North Grand Street, said his water's been discolored "365 days a year, for three years" and he's been told at different times that it's a new chemical the village is using or that they've switched reservoirs.
Mr. Redmond said he'd been working since 10pm the previous night and had just come from flushing 20 mains.
"It's not a problem that we're ignoring," he said. "I apologize. I know it ruins clothing...There's really no answer except replacing every main."
Mr. Redmond said the past year has been the worst he's remembered, in part because of increased activity in the lines.
SUNY Cobleskill recently replaced their lines, he said, stirring up sediment when they filled their tank a couple of weeks ago.
And it will happen again when Howe Caverns connects to the system, he warned.
Mr. Redmond stressed that the water is safe to drink and exceeds all quality and safety standards.
If that was ever not the case, he said, the fire department would be warning people to boil their water on loudspeakers and his department would be going door-to-door.