BOSSIER CITY, La. (KTAL/KMSS) – Residents in Bossier City, particularly in the Golden Meadows neighborhood off Barksdale Boulevard, have been waking up to discolored, dark yellow tap water.

“I just washed the dog’s bowl out; it’s a Rubbermaid container, and I put the water in there from the kitchen sink, and it was really brown and muddy looking,” said resident Gina Cherry.

The reason for the unnerving water is that the system is being cleaned, according to Bossier City Public Information Officer Louis Johnson.

“In order to clean the water system, sometimes you will have some problems or some particulates that will come out in the water. It should be minimal. We regret that it happened. It should be over by today, and our water system will be up, intact without any problems,” said Johnson.

This process is annual, where the water distribution system is tested and cleaned with a chlorine burn, but some neighborhoods are caught in the debris.

“It would make sense that if the chemicals are going to clean the water, then anything that is left on the end, which is where Golden Meadows is, in order to clarify that we simply use a flush, which is what we’re doing now,” said Johnson.

Fire hydrants were opened, and Johnson said that all discoloration would be gone by the end of today, but Cherry says the water has been bad for years.

“I was in Shreveport. Their water, I used to think, tasted like how wet potting soil smells, but I’d rather drink that water than this water any day. Our water’s been garbage ever since we moved here in 2006,” said Cherry.

She says the dark yellow color is new, but the taste has been so off-putting that she sends her son to Costco in Texas to buy packs of water bottles.

“I even bought one of those five-gallon jug water coolers. I got one of those, but that’s going to get expensive after a while,” said Cherry.

Johnson says that Bossier City has an “A” water grade and is committed to doing what is best for the citizens.

“We hold that near and dear, and we will continue to make sure that our water is safe, that it’s clean, and that our citizens get the very best.”