Thursday afternoon, apparent untreated sewage water with a blue and black hue came out of a manhole located on Merrydale Drive near the intersection of Martin Luther King Boulevard.

Pearl River County Utility Authority Executive Director Ray Scott said high amounts of rain in the area late last week caused two  underground stations to overflow. He said instances like Thursday’s have occurred before and he believes the water turns a bluish color due to the proximity of the industrial sites in the area.

“Our employees have analyzed the water and we have determined that no chemicals can be found in it,” Scott said.

Scott said the Utility Authority is currently working on increasing pump capacity for all 57 pump stations located within the county.

“This is part of our rehabilitation program and because this is a large project, we are working on about 10 to 12 pumps per year,” Scott said.

He said that some of the sewer lines in the city are between 50 to 60 years old and the ongoing wastewater rehabilitation project will help cut down or even eliminate future instances such as this one, from occurring in the future.

That project is replacing or lining old sewer lines within the cities of Picayune and Poplarville.