Pollution Issue or Mishap?: Brown Water in Hill House Has Students Frustrated, Concerned

Gracie Shanklin ’24

Hill House bathtub with brown water. Photo courtesy of Gracie Shanklin

The air wasn’t the only polluted element for the residents living in Yonkers, New York, and the South end of Sarah Lawrence’s campus on what started as a typical Thursday morning on September 24.

But when Maeve Montante ’24 turned on her bathroom faucet that day around 10 Am, she noticed something was not right: the water was brown. The experience made Maeve feel, as she put it, “grossed out.”

When Skyler Kawexki-Muonio ’24 filled her water bottle up that same Thursday morning, she was: “mad and confused.” As the morning carried on, the hustle and bustle of the Sarah Lawrence dormitory, Hill House was full of rumors and confusion as students turned on their sinks and showers and were greeted by a flow of contaminated water. 

In an email sent on September 24, Yonkers water department described the water as tainted with “sediment of pipes and possibly iron.”

As the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic makes people feel uneasy about venturing outside and seek safety in their own homes, it’s essential that drinking and bathing water stay clean.

September 24 isn’t the only day this mysterious brown water has run through the pipes. Patsy Koonce ’24 recalls seeing the brown water on this year’s move-in day during the first weekend of September. Lilian Brendlinger ’24 remembers contaminated water flowing out of her bathroom faucet again on October 8. Cameron Rivers ’24 and Skyler Dale ’24  both stated that they experienced “yellowish/brown shower water” on October 15.

A representative of the Yonkers Water Department was quick to reassure that the brown water never contains bacteria or lead. 

“We run hundreds of tests every week,” the Department representative said.

Nevertheless, Mo Gallagher, the head of facilities at Sarah Lawrence College, said that when the water is brown on campus: “We still do not recommend drinking it or doing laundry.” 

Many students living in Hill House expressed frustration at Sarah Lawrence’s administration for their lack of communication about the brown water. 

Gallagher said that school policy includes sending an email to the community to inform occupants of affected buildings and information on when the situation will be resolved. However, there was no email sent to the campus about the brown water, an issue that bothered many students. 

Kawexki-Muonio recalled wondering: “Why didn’t anyone communicate with us about what was going on? How were we supposed to know if the water was safe, or if it was a campus issue or a Yonkers issue?”

“There was no official notice about it; we all had to find out on our own,” said Elizabeth Dale ’24.

According to the Yonkers Water Department, “when there is brown water running through the city, it’s usually because of construction.” However, as Gallagher said: “When we have experienced brown water in campus buildings, it is 99% of the time related to a campus or a local water pipe break, or a city of Yonkers or Yonkers Fire Department using local fire hydrants to handle work.” 

For student Skyler Dale ’24, a notice from the college would have saved them lots of money.“I had to spend $30 on bottled water,” Dale said.

Sophie Ham ’24 explained that she trekked across campus to purchase water bottles. “I ended up having to walk all the way to the vending machine in Bates to get water because the ones in Hill House were empty,” she said. 

Kennedy Cannon ’24 said that “To this day, I won’t drink the water or even entertain that thought, bottled water is the safest option to me.” 

Ham doesn’t feel safe drinking the brown water “not even out of my Brita filter.” 

Skyler and Elizabeth Dale regularly refill their empty water bottles with clean water out of preparation for another brown water outbreak, while other students like Koonce stock up on water bottles from the dining halls. 

On top of the extra money and time that students have had to spend to stock up on water bottles, students are also concerned about their consumption of single-use plastic.

“I’ve had to save up a bunch of plastic bottles in my fridge, which really upsets me as an environmentalist,” said Elizabeth Dale. 

Recently, the mysterious brown water was sighted again.

“When I took a shower today [October 15] the water looked yellow/brown, and I got out ASAP.” Rivers said. She even stated that she recently felt “scared to do basic hygienic things sometimes.” 

In the span of nine weeks, the brown water has made multiple appearances in the “Hill House” water pipes and in the greater Yonkers area.

 The duration of the brown water problem has led many students to believe that this is no mishap –– and that the discoloration of Yonkers water might not end anytime soon. Toni Elisabeth’23, like many of her peers, has no solution for the brown water issue. She said: “I’m honestly not sure what I’d do if it happened again.”