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Really?  Our Health Department has "skeleton" crew on the weekends (one
receptionist, one nurse, one doc on call).  You may want to call the
local police (not 911 obviously) and ask if they have a number where
you can contact someone about potentially "bad" water lines (the water
company is another excellent idea).

Smokie Darling (Annie)

Don't forget that your hot water heater is now full of this stuff, and you
will need to flush it out one way or another.

I seriously doubt that it would be possible to contaminate the fresh water
supply with the sewers, for one thing the sewer pipes are below the water
pipes.  But even plain old dirt isn't good.  They come around here and open
the hydrants every few weeks to keep the lines cleared out.

At my mom's house in North Carolina, there was fine granite in the water.
If you ran a glass of water and let it sit a minute there would be fine grit
in the bottom of the glass.

Jo

Over many years, we have had this happen when there was either a break in
a water line or if watermains were being replaced.  Either way, let the
water run until clear.  If you have a water heater, it should be drained
from the bottom also after the water has cleared.  As suggested, it might
be a good idea to check with either the water or health department to see
if the water should be boiled for a while.  I always keep a few gallon
jugs of water stashed away for emergencies and in case water is shut off
for any reason.  Good luck.   MLB

At our old house in Melbourne, it was a regular occurance for the
water to suddenly go dark brown for awhile - it was because they'd
opened up the pipes and got some dirt into them and they didn't bother
to flush them clean again afterwards. Instead they made you do it
yourself - and pay for the useless brown water! Run the tap in the
bath hard and see if it improves in a few minutes... if it doesn't,
then make a complaint.

They do ours every two weeks in the summer.  I had to go into the office and
suggest they might want to use a day other than the day we put out
garbage/trash containers in the street.

But we are end of the line, so maybe the rest of the town doesn't see this
so often.

They open each hydrant on the block, one at a time.  Washes our street and
gutters down real good.

Jo

I don't blame you a bit for not wanting either to drink it nor give it to
the pets not to mention bathing in it...but Mr. Hamblen is right and his
advice rings true: where I live the management messes w/our plumbing at
least every 2 weeks or so (always warning us that water will be OFF for
about 2 hours) and they do this mid-a.m. so that I am among the very few
home during those hours.
When you turn it on after one of their sessions (I have no idea what they do
but this bldg.went up in 1926) water in any of apt's 4 faucets is always
light brown and makes an awful air-blasting noise and sprays out violently
for a minute or two. The brown here is indeed sediment that settled and was
stirred up again. It *never* smells! You didn't say if your tub water
smelled or not, but years ago I lived in a bldg. where a sewer line blew
(the pipes were in ceiling of bottom apt) and there was no mistaking the
smell of sewage; they had to replace all the furniture and rugs.
On a different note, I am so glad your Daddy is doing well and that his
recivery is going good!
As Gilda Radner used to say, "It's *always* something!"