By Lillian Andemicael
Dining Hall users noticed a women’s bathroom in the South Campus Dining Hall had dark brown, discolored water running from its sinks last week.
Only hot water in these sinks ran discolored, which is often a symptom of a buildup of sediment in water heaters. Dining Services spokesman Bart Hipple was notified of the problem Thursday, and it was resolved Friday, Hipple said.
The water began showing discoloration as early as Monday.
Hipple said he’d contacted Greg Thompson, South Campus dining facilities’ assistant director, within three hours of receiving notice. Thompson ran the water on Thursday and did not “call it in” because the water was suddenly running clear when he arrived, Hipple said.
“I do not know why this has happened,” Hipple said. “[Facilities] said it happens very infrequently that the water is discolored, and in the past when they’ve called this into work control they’ve come out and run a particulate check, and the water has been safe.”
There is “no known problem in the system,” said Jack Baker, operations and maintenance department director. He added that this was not an unusual occurrence or any cause for concern.
However, some students that use the bathroom sink water — including those using it to wash dishes — were upset to learn that some sinks were running discolored water.
“This kind of makes me feel like that water is not as clean as we think it is,” said junior Zachary Deaton. “They probably should research the ages of the [water] system … to determine when [a pipe] should be targeted.”
Rust and discoloration of water, generally speaking, does not make it unsafe, environmental affairs assistant director Jason Baer said. Washington Suburban Sanitary Commission supplies water to the University of Maryland, and the WSSC is responsible for treating and monitoring water within its supply system.
