Yanceyville council hears water-plant problems as residents report discolored water

YANCEYVILLE, N.C. — The Town Council on March 7 received an update from Inframark on water-distribution testing and wastewater-plant repairs after residents reported recurring discolored water and a bleach-like odor.

Gary Stainback, an Inframark representative, told council staff collected disinfection-by-product samples (trihalomethanes and haloacetic acids) on Feb. 22 and that samples at County Home Road and New Walter Mills Road returned the system’s running averages to compliance (below the 80 parts-per-billion threshold cited in the report). Stainback said plant staff repaired a finished-water pump check valve and are coordinating hydrant flushing and other distribution-level work with engineers and public-works staff to address customer complaints.

Stainback also reported a mechanical failure at the wastewater treatment plant: the reactor’s automatic decanting valve required troubleshooting and replacement of a control cable, capacitor and an actuator motor; a new limit switch was ordered. Those failures produced elevated effluent biological-oxygen-demand and total suspended-solids concentrations, he said, and compliance samples had been submitted to a commercial laboratory for confirmation.

Town Manager Kamara Barnett and Mayor Alvin Foster reiterated that plant security procedures remain in place and that staff and Inframark are working to diagnose and remedy distribution problems. Barnett said the town has received no formal notification of regulatory noncompliance for the January reporting period; the filed state compliance report indicated compliance for that month.

In public comment, resident Tamara Bennet described longstanding episodes of yellow to rust-colored water, often around holidays, and a strong smell of bleach. She said she had called the town several times and had been told there was no problem. Inframark’s Stainback asked Bennet for contact information so staff could retest her tap and provide results.

Resident and county planner Matthew Hoagland asked whether online-payment fees were ongoing and whether the town had received formal notice of an Asset Inventory and Assessment (AIA) grant; Barnett said the town has been informed the Division of Water Infrastructure has approved the town’s project and that the town is eligible for $400,000 but that the official award letter had not yet been received.

Mayor Pro Tem Odessa Gwynn said she has experienced discolored water since 2020 and urged officials to communicate more proactively to customers; she added she did not want a long-term contamination situation similar to widely publicized events in other municipalities.

No formal council action was taken on water-quality complaints at the meeting; Inframark and town staff said they will continue distribution sampling, targeted hydrant flushing and follow-up testing and will report results to the town. The council adjourned at 7:10 p.m.