Melanie Lekocevic reports for Columbia-Greene Media that Ravena Mayor Bill Misuraca says the town's water os safe to drink despite its brownish color. “The water is 100 percent safe to use,” Misuraca said. “We test hourly, daily, weekly and monthly. We are in constant contact with the health department and the water has been deemed safe.” He says the color comes from the pipes, made in 1890 with iron and manganese that leeches into local sinks with summer heat and heavy rains, and he does not recommend using the water for washing clothing. Ravena’s chief water plant operator, Jason Leonard, said, “We have an old system, and this time of year you start getting iron and manganese that breaks down in the pipes as the temperature begins to rise, and with an aging system there is more buildup than in a new system.... It begins to break down and the pipes are ‘descaled’ – it breaks down the inside of the pipes, basically, and that causes discoloration.” The town flushed its system Aug. 2 and may do so again, and they are working on a longterm get rid of the old pipes. “We have a plan in place to get these pipes out of the ground and replace them with plastic pipes,” Misuraca said. “But it’s incredibly expensive and we are trying to find a way to do it without overburdening the taxpayers.” Read the full story at HudsonValley360.com.