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Pink water flowed through the water supply of residents of Onoway, Alberta, Canada. Residents were shocked and feared that the fuschia bright tap water was toxic or poisonous, but government officials announced on its website that it was safe to drink. In their amazement, a lot of people took photos of the pink water and it circulated in social media.  

An official announcement was posted by the council at around 10 a.m. on Tuesday in a Facebook post that said the pink water was caused by a chemical that was used during their routine flushing of the lines. Potassium permanganate made it into the distribution system during a routine flushing and filter backwashing.

The Daily Mail reported that nearly 1,000 people were worried about the sight of pink water gushing out from their sinks on Monday. In a statement on Tuesday, Onoway Mayor, Dale Krasnow apologized for the delay in the council's response. Krasnow said they were never advised by Alberta Environment to issue a public.

Krasnow added they are currently assessing what exactly happened, but it appears that a valve got stuck during the procedure that allowed the potassium permanganate to get into the reservoir and resulted to pink water that was distributed into the town's water distribution system.

Potassium permanganate or potassium salt (KMnO4) is an inorganic chemical disinfectant that has been used by the Alberta Environment for normal treatment processes to help remove iron, hydrogen sulphide, and manganese. It removes the sulfur odor that is developed from well and waste water according to the Metro.

Despite officials insisting it was safe, the residents were not willing to take the risk and some did not use the pink water. Some posted photos and videos, while others stored the pink water in containers as a remembrance of what happened to their small town.