KIMBALLTON, Iowa — For the past couple of days, the water in this Audubon County town was not drinkable. In some parts of town on Thursday, it came out of the tap pink in color. Residents were told not to drink the water.

Test results came back Friday showing the water was safe to drink.

“We had to take water samples to Council Bluffs for two days in a row, and yesterday was our last sample to take over there, and it came back that there is no bacteria in the water,” said City Councilman Thomas Lake. “Yes, you can drink the water.”

Hy-Vee stepped up with stores in Harlan and Atlantic, each bringing in hundreds of water bottles for the town of 250 people.

“We need to get something done, it doesn’t seem like the town gets things done,” said John Nowatzki, a Kimballton resident. “When we put up the new water tower, that’s where it all started.”

Nowatzki said he has not drunk water from the Kimballton system in four years.

City Council members are working to get the new water system to work properly. The town installed a new water tower and water mains. The problem lately involves a filter.

“We’ve just run into some unexpected snags, and you know it’s created a lot of hardships for our, for our people in town,” said Tony Petersen, a Kimballton City Councilman. “They understandably get a little bit upset, and I get it, we can certainly understand why.”

While the water is now drinkable, city officials are still working to make the entire system function as planned.