Horror as residents in small Illinois town are forced to bathe and brush teeth with foul-smelling orange water due to mysterious addition to water supply

Tap water that ranges in color from pale yellow to a deep orange is driving residents of one Illinois town to spend thousands of dollars on filtration systems in a bid to make it drinkable.

Not even toothpaste can disguise the taste of the polluted water flowing through the pipes of Eastwood Manor which is tempting some residents to abandon basic hygiene.

But regulators are refusing to put any pressure on the supplier to improve water quality because the Chicago suburb does not have more than 1,000 residents.

'The flavor of the water, even when I brush my teeth, is noticeable and then bathing it, if it's orange that day we most likely will skip showers and baths,' Stephanie Tesmer said. 'It tastes horrible. I'm very, very upset.'

EPA records show the water has contained excessive levels of iron for at least 10 years, consistently registering at more than one milligram per liter, which is considered 'unsatisfactory' by state regulators.

The water company, Aqua, says they have brought levels down to 2.3 milligrams from a level 10 times what they were when they became the supplier in 2016.

But residents say the pollution is powerful enough to stain their clothes and leave expensive filters clogged with orange gunk within weeks of installation.

'The filter starts out white, as new, but this is only two months,' resident Mark Slovacek told ABC7.

'You can see all the all this orange slime. If we didn't have this filter this would be coming through our faucets.'

More than nine million Americans US homes still have lead pipes, potentially exposing residents to the toxic metal, with some of the highest concentrations in Illinois.

Lead causes heart disease by triggering high blood pressure, which happens because as the heavy metal builds up in the body it causes blood vessels to constrict reducing the amount of space blood has to flow through.

In babies and small children, it can also cause damage to the brain and central nervous system leading to language and speech problems and developmental delays.

But the state's Department of Health says the orange water does not pose a health hazard, and that iron is categorized as a 'secondary or aesthetic contaminant'.

Aqua insists that it complies with the state EPA regulations but experts told the station that some people are particularly vulnerable to too much iron.

'If you have a pre-existing condition, something like hemachromatosis, where it prevents your body from absorbing iron normally, that can be an issue,' said Dr Tasha Stoiber of the Environmental Working Group in DC.

But it is not just the vulnerable of Eastwood Manor who are fed up of soap that will not lather and a rusty residue on their skin.

'It stains the toilets,' said neighbor Michael Clark. 'It stains the shower, it'll stain clothes.

'To put it on the residents to filter their own water doesn't seem to be very fair.'

Aqua said the problem stems from high levels of iron in the groundwater rather than in pipes and claimed it had 'exhausted efforts' at finding a quick fix.

It has however promised to install a 'permanent iron filtration treatment' by the beginning of next year.

'There are potent smells that come out and clearly that's yellow,' said resident Kyle Waggoner, pointing to a glass.

'This is a glass of yellow water. Fill the tub up a quarter way, halfway, and the water is yellow.'