Craig Johnson

Reporting
John Slattery

ELMONT, N.Y. (CBS) ― Residents in Elmont, N.Y., often have to deal with brown water. Many say they won't drink it or bathe in it.

When you open the tap at home, the last thing you'd expect is something that looks more like tea than water.

But that exact problem is what has plagued the 33,000 residents of Elmont for years. But as CBS 2 HD reports, the Long Island town may finally may get the clarity they so desperately want.

Would you think of drinking brown water? Well, water customers in Elmont, have been faced with the issue.

"Yes, it's brown water. Basically that's what we call it, brown water," resident Mimi Pierre-Johnson said.

Pierre-Johnson's water was running clear Monday, but she said it's often discolored. Another resident, Patrick Nicolosi, said he's seen it brown for 30 years.

"Personally, I don't drink the water. But I have to bathe in the water," Nicolosi said.

Bathing may be one thing, but with the tap water often brown, many people use bottled water for drinking and cooking.

A state senator held a hearing wondering why the Western Nassau Water Authority is content to let its customers use expensive water filters that should last two months.

"I'm informed that this after two weeks," Democrat Craig Johnson said, demonstrating what a filter can look like.

The chief engineer for the water authority testified that half of its six wells are contaminated. They don't know from where, but he said they have been safely treated with chemicals. Residents describe the water as smelling like chlorine. Experts said the brownish color is from the presence of iron.

"I can't say I'd drink it, but I'd bathe in it," the water authority's Robert Schwarz said.

A Nassau County health official said despite the color, testing shows Elmont's water is safe to drink.

The Nassau County Health Department said the water could be cleared up if the water authority installed iron filtration plants. The cost is $3 million a plant.

The water authority has ordered and plans to install two iron filtration systems within the next year in an effort to correct the problem.