Residents of a California city in the heart of Napa Valley are fed up with their tap water coming out brown and smelly, as officials tell them it is safe to drink and bathe in.
St. Helena, known for its Cabernet Sauvignon, is now also gaining a negative reputation for its water. Some days the taps in people's homes run clear, but on others, residents say the water is silty and frothy, resembling beer or Chardonnay.
City officials say the discoloration is caused by a buildup of harmless, naturally occurring minerals in the aging municipal pipes.
'St. Helena has faced seasonal water discoloration for over 40 years due to naturally occurring iron and manganese in two of our three water sources. These minerals aren't harmful but can build up in old pipes and get stirred up when water flow changes,' the city said in an update published on August 7, 2025.
In December, the city said it flushed 73,000 gallons of water through the system when residents were dealing with discoloration issues. At the time, officials said it would take a long time to resolve this.
Months later, St. Helena residents are losing their patience with the ongoing problem and want a quicker solution.
'There are days where it's fine, there are days where it's brown, and there are days when it smells like swamp,' Michelle Liu Covell, an architect and a parent, told the San Francisco Chronicle.
Others told KTVU that the water smells like dirt or that when they wash their sheets, they come out brown.
St. Helena, California, has been dealing with water discoloration issues for decades, but residents say it has gotten worse in recent years.
Residents say that even though this has been going on for decades, it used to happen primarily in the summertime. Now they say it's happening more frequently.
In 2023, city officials acknowledged the rising frequency, saying the tap water issues rose to 'an entirely new level in both severity and reach, sparking understandable concern throughout our community about water quality and long-term infrastructure health'.
That year, the city estimated it would have to spend more than $55 million over the next five years to bring its drinking water and wastewater systems up to modern standards.
That year was also when Bianca Thall, a mother with young children, decided to move away because of the constantly varying quality of the water.
She told the Chronicle she was sick of having to buy bottled water or boil the tap water until she felt it was safe.
Those who chose to stay are in the same predicament and are being forced to pay some of the highest water bills in the Bay Area.
St. Helena's lowest utility prices start at around $80 per month for water service and $194 for wastewater.
Longtime St. Helena resident Tom Belt told the Chronicle he installed a water filter for his entire house last year, which cost his family about $800. Replacement filters cost more than $155.
Cynthia Kee, a mortgage banker, believes the city has not taken enough action. She also doesn't trust officials' assurances that the water is safe, so she sent a sample of the water for independent testing.
In January, the city put out a notice to residents that it had not met federal water standards but that it was not an emergency.
In some areas of St. Helena, the water had haloacetic acids that exceeded outlined safety levels.
Haloacetic acids form when disinfectants commonly used to treat drinking water, such as chlorine, react with organic material found in natural water sources.
'This is not an immediate risk,' the city stated in a public notice. 'If it had been, you would have been notified immediately. However, some people who drink water containing HAAs in excess of the MCL (maximum contaminant level, a state drinking water standard) over many years may have an increased risk of getting cancer.'
Jay Kouba, a member of the city's water advisory committee, told the St. Helena City Council in October 2025 that the water system should be stabilized within six months or a year.
The first in a series of community meetings on the city's water issues is scheduled for March 30.