Court hearing held over water quality concerns in Great Barrington

GREAT BARRINGTON, Mass. (NEWS10) -- The town of Great Barrington faced off against Housatonic Water Works Company on Wednesday, the privately owned company in charge of water in the town.

The town health board claims the water provided is discolored and violating state safety standards. It's asking the judge to uphold the nuisance order they issued to HWWC that would require the company to supply bottled water to its customers.

NEWS10 spoke to Housatonic Water Works, who said the water is and remains safe to drink. The judge ended the hearing saying he will hand down a decision on Monday.

Meanwhile, the Housatonic Water Works Company held an informational meeting on Wednesday. The meeting was scheduled before the court case; however, the topic of the discolored water was free on attendees' minds. The company spoke on some of their plans regarding how they'll address it such as changes to their filtration methods.

They said this change would be done by approximately August 2025. Among other topics discussed was rate increases for their customers, which the company said is scheduled to rise by 90 percent over the next five years.