City of Portland, OR
12/15/2025 | News release | Distributed by Public on 12/15/2025 17:13
Seeing yellow-tinted drinking water? It is natural color from the forest.
News Article
View full size image of A lake during fall with a glassy surface surrounded by green and yellow trees. The beautiful trees are reflected in the surface of the lake.
You may notice a slight, yellow color in the water. This harmless color from the Bull Run Watershed is temporary.
Published
December 15, 2025 2:41 pm
In this article
Tea-like color in water is temporary
Residents around the Portland-area may be seeing a slight, tea-like color in the water. This yellow tint is a lingering result of the heavy rains inDecember 2025. This is a harmless discoloration from natural forest material in the Bull Run Watershed. We anticipate that the color will clear in the coming days to weeks, depending on your location.
Water is safe to drink
The color does not impact the safety of the drinking water and is a normal occurrence in our system. Currently, drinking water from the Bull Run is not filtered, which is why the color from the forest can be seen in tap water or staining the filters in your business or home. However, drinking water from Bull Run will be filtered in the coming years.
If you have discolored water that is not a yellow tint, please report it to the Water Quality Line. Water that is brown or darker than a tint-more like coffee than tea in color-may be caused by something else happening in your neighborhood.
City of Portland, OR published this content on December 15, 2025, and is solely responsible for the information contained herein. Distributed via Public Technologies (PUBT), unedited and unaltered, on December 15, 2025 at 23:13 UTC. If you believe the information included in the content is inaccurate or outdated and requires editing or removal, please contact us at [email protected]