By Shellie Sylvestri, originally posted on October 14, 2016

TALLULAH, La. (KNOE) – The boil advisory for Tallulah, La. has been lifted, but many residents and business owners  in the area are frustrated with the City of Tallulah Water System leaving the city with brown water for the past week.

Mayor Paxton Branch says he is thankful residents remained patient as the situation was resolved… for now.

“The most important thing is that the boil advisory has been lifted, so it’s safe to drink the water as well as utilize the water. So, it’s really good and businesses will be glad to hear that,” says Branch.

Marlin Evans is a small business owner in Tallulah; he sells cubed ice in bags and bulk. He says when Tallulah’s water turns brown, he is forced to shut down his business.

“This is Flint, Michigan in Tallulah, Louisiana,” Evans says. “Anytime there’s a boil water alert we have to shut the machine down.”

Evans also has to deal with the water at home.

“I go home and take showers a lot of times, and you look down in the drain and it is brown – literally brown,” says Evans.

Last weekend, one of the City of Tallulah Water System’s filters went down, turning the city’s water brown. The city did not go under boil advisory until Monday, forcing everyone to use brown water for several days.

Mayor Branch says the system’s filter system has been repaired, but the system is old and definitely needs improvements.

“Our system is about 69 years old. Therefor, we’re dealing with parts that we don’t know when they’re going to go out. You know, it’s just an old system, and we just thank most of our constituents and our clients for just being patient with us, understanding that this is not in our control,” says Branch.

KNOE reached out to The City of Tallulah Water System for comment, but received no answer.