The Reason This Town Was Told Not To Wash Clothes For 5 Days

Residents of a town in North Carolina, USA, were asked not to wash their clothes for five days. The public works department in Surf City told residents through a Facebook post one week ago to avoid doing laundry. The reason, they said, was so that the beach town could flush excess iron out of water lines.

"The purpose of this flush is to remove excess iron from the water lines," officials explained on Facebook. "Residents may experience discolored water. This excess water poses no health risk, but residents are discouraged from washing clothes during this time."

The post said that Pender County Island would be affected by the process. It did not explain how the water could harm clothes.

In the comments section, a few residents expressed their displeasure at the unusual request. Others wondered why Facebook was chosen as the preferred mode of communication.

"Why wasn't there a call out to those that would be affected?!? I don't get on Facebook often enough to get these alerts," wrote one Facebook user. "Sad to say the City's communication methods are lacking," another added.

According to Environmental Alternatives, high amounts of iron in water can discolour it and lead to staining of clothes.