Images of amber-colored water filling sink basins and bathtubs have long been the bane of town residents, who have been quick to call on the Water Department to do something about the so-called “brown” water. As complaints persist, Water Commissioner Jim Pelletier and Swansea Water District Superintendent Jeffrey Sutherland offered “an explanation” during a recent interview. 

Sutherland said his own concerns about the water is what caused him eight years ago to take the helm of “a special tax-levying entity” operated by volunteer labor that is neither private company nor nonprofit organization. He likened the town’s Water District, established in 1949, to the Vatican within Rome — an independent body within the city that supports residents as both customers and owners alike.

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