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Water discoloration at Henry Ford Hospital

Posted at 8:55 PM, Apr 13, 2016
and last updated 2016-04-14 12:21:47-04

Henry Ford Hospital is canceling several surgeries because of bad water.

Wednesday night, the hospital issued an emergency order to stop using tap water after it became discolored.

Hospital officials held a press conference and maintain they are operating as normal and that patient care is not impacted, but they did canceled several elective procedures like knee replacements.

They say these are surgeries that can wait a few days.

The hospital is now going on nearly 18 hours without being able to use their tap water.

They discovered it was discolored around 5:45 p.m.. A spokesperson for the hospital says the discoloration is from sediment in the water. At this time, they say it is not considered contaminated.

After flushing and chlorinating the water last night, it is now running clear, but they continue to rely on bottled water for drinking and hand sanitizer for washing hands. 

Water samples were taken for testing and results are expected tonight. 

The hospital says they have no reports of anyone getting sick because of the discolored water.

They previously said the discoloration came from a water valve turned on at the M-1 Rail construction site, this afternoon the hospital is backing away from pointing to a cause.

M-1 Rail employees say they have not confirmed their construction is tied to this water issue. 

Stay with 7 Action News and WXYZ.com for the latest on this breaking news.