Accidental dye dump blamed for pink water in Colorado city

March 16 (UPI) -- Officials in a Colorado city said they have identified the culprit behind unusual pink coloring in treated water -- 20 gallons of concentrated dye.

The City of Idaho Springs said staff at its Water Resource Reclamation Facility noticed treated water being discharged into Clear Creek had an unusual pink coloration on the morning of March 13.

An investigation was launched in cooperation with the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment and the probe determined the pink color had been introduced via the municipal sewer system.

Officials said they determined Wednesday that the cause of the color had been about 20 gallons of concentrated dye that had accidentally been dumped into the sewer system by a local business.

"The dye had been intermittently released into the system starting on March 12 and was stopped on March 14," the city said in a news release.

The city said the water discharged from the reclamation facility is likely to remain pink until all of the dye has passed through the sewer system.

"According to ongoing internal testing and observations, the dye does not appear to have caused any interruption to the biological treatment operation at the facility nor to have had any adverse biological impact on Clear Creek," the city said.