MIDDLETOWN – Manganese in Middletown’s water supply may discolor clothes when doing the laundry, but it is safe to drink, city Public Works Commissioner Jacob Tawil said Friday.

The problem is that the city’s water filtration system, which is 100 years old, cannot rid the water of the chemical when it is it naturally produced during the hot summer months, he said.

“That’s not a health concern, it’s only for the laundry and the staining and the aesthetics of water,” Tawil said.

The problem will be eliminated once the city’s new water filtration plant is completed and online next year, Tawil said.

Middletown gets its water from reservoirs.