MINERSVILLE -- Thousands of people in Schuylkill County are experiencing dirty water. Officials said this is not the first time it's happened in the Minersville area.
Crews were busy flushing some fire hydrants in Minersville trying to clear up discolored water. The manager of the municipal water authority blames the problem on a water main break.
In the home of Christine Hess there is dirty water all over. Hess said she had to buy jugs of bottled water for cooking and drinking.
"I have an 8-year-old son and I feel very guilty putting him in the shower dirty but I am sending him in dirty."
The Minersville Municipal Water Authority distributes water to 3,500 homes and businesses. This week's water main break affected 75% of them.
Customer Bill Rep said he won't drink the water.
"If you do take a shower, it's all dirty and everything."
The water main break has been fixed. Melanie Spittler is the manager of the water authority. Spittler said because the water mains are more than 100 years old, it takes time to get the water running clear again.
"When you have old pipes like that there is so much buildup on the inside of those pipes there is so much matter built up inside of them it causes a disturbance and there is a lot of dirty water to deal with."
Spittler added because the system is so old chances are if there is another water main break there will be more discolored water.