Water Safe on Chickory Lane, Copper Hills Drive

That discolored water that some Canton residents started to notice today is safe, the general manager of the Cherokee County Water & Sewerage Authority said this afternoon.

"Nobody's in any danger," Thomas A. Heard told Canton-Sixes Patch. "It is safe for consumption. We test it."

For the last month or so, has been checking hyrdrants in the area. It's a standard procedure that the department must follow to maintain its Insurance Service Office (ISO) rating, a score that companies use to set property insurance rates.

Today, the water authority residents received a couple of reports of discolored water on Chickory Lane in BridgeMill and Copper Hills Drive along Highway 20, spokesman Dwight Turner said.

"Whenever you increase velocity in a pipe," Heard said, "that will break loose some of the iron shavings. Pipes are all iron, so you get a little bit of discoloration to the water as a result of that."

Heard said the hydrant tests don't always cause problems like the one today. "It's kind of hit or miss," he said.

Crews are on the scenes now.

"They'll be flushing until we get clear water," Heard said. "It usually takes a little while, not a few days."