Water main breaks cause water to turn orange and brown in Highland Falls
The village responded to two main breaks Friday: one on Main Street and another on Webb Place.
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Several Highland Falls residents from different neighborhoods told News 12 on Friday that their tap water has sporadically been turning up different colors — from a light orange tint to a dark, murky brown — over the last five days.
Mayor Jim DiSalvo said the discoloration is due to several water main breaks over that same period of time.
DiSalvo said that breaks are common when the ground thaws, shifts and then leans on the aging infrastructure.
Some of the water mains that the village's public works department has responded to are more than 80 years old.
The village responded to two main breaks on Friday: one on Main Street and another on Webb Place.
The village just finished an upgrade to the water system and is about to spend $2.5 million on another upgrade, DiSalvo said, but several more projects must happen over several more years before the system could be considered fixed.
News 12 has covered similar infrastructure challenges in Middletown, Beacon, Peekskill and Mount Pleasant.
Any Highland Falls resident who has discolored water is asked to report it to village officials, who will dispatch a public works crew to pinpoint the leak and arrange for contractors to repair it.
