Florida the rules are different here Chapter XLII

The water is brown, smells bad, corrodes pipes but its healthy for you. Of all this the pipe part would seem to contradict official's statements about the water being safe. It's just bad plumbing, and I'm not a chemist, right?

Right! Don't you just love Florida.

Linked to- Basil's Blog, Bloggin Outloud, Bright & Early,

MANATEE COUNTY -- It can smell bad and look even worse, and it has been coming out of the faucets in the homes of hundreds of Sarasota and Manatee county residents.

An algae bloom and a problem treating water from the Lake Manatee Reservoir have caused tap water to turn yellow and brown in hundreds of area homes and businesses.

And as many as 30,000 homes could still be affected as discolored water from the reservoir works its way through the system to Sarasota and Longboat Key.

Officials say the water is not contaminated and is safe to drink. But they are advising residents to run faucets until the water runs clear.

Sarasota County purchases about 10 million gallons of water per day from Manatee County. Water from Lake Manatee is pumped to homes and businesses from University Parkway down to Bee Ridge Road.

"In June it had a horrible smell; it stunk," said Southgate resident Carol Springer. "Tuesday, it not only smelled bad, but was brown."

Manatee water officials said the problem was a combination of an algal bloom and a failure to add a chemical to the water that stops it from corroding pipes. Without the chemical, iron and aluminum from pipes is being scoured from pipes and tainting the water.

"Water has been sitting in that lake for most of the year," said Bruce MacLeod, superintendent for the Manatee County water treatment plant. "It's stagnant and high in temperature and a perfect breeding ground for algae."

Tests on the water by Manatee and Sarasota counties have not shown any bacterial contamination.

Manatee County has received hundreds of calls reporting discolored water over the past two weeks, MacLeod said. "We've seen an improvement here in Manatee County, but there's going to be a lag time down in Sarasota and Longboat Key," he said.

"About 30,000 connections could be affected," said Dave Cash, general manager of operations for Sarasota County Water Core Services. "Although it is fairly widespread, not everybody is being affected by it."

A number of homes on Longboat Key have also reported the problem, said Juan Florensa, the town's public works director.

The town, which buys about 2 million gallons of water per day from Manatee County, has slowed down flushing of its pipes to reduce corrosion.