League City residents may notice yellow or brown tap water, but the city says it is safe to drink.

The city issued a public notice Monday, Sept. 14, explaining that heavy rainfall from Tropical Storm Edouard stirred up naturally occurring minerals and materials in the source water that feeds much of the city's supply. Some customers may also detect a slight change in odor.

The problem traces upstream. Edouard dumped 4 to 12 inches of rain across southeast Texas after making landfall Tuesday, Sept. 1, near Johnson Bayou, Louisiana, according to KPRC 2. That runoff flowed into the Trinity River Basin, muddying the raw water supply feeding the City of Houston's Southeast Water Purification Plant. The plant provides a large share of League City's drinking water.

Houston's treatment process at the plant continues to operate as designed, the city said, but the extra sediment makes minerals more visible once the water reaches taps. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency calls that measure of water clarity "turbidity," which rises when storm runoff carries soil and organic matter into reservoirs.

League City is not alone. Webster, Pasadena, Deer Park and La Porte have reported similar discoloration from the same source water, the Houston Chronicle reported. The Clear Lake Water Authority confirmed that naturally occurring minerals gave water a green or yellow tint in parts of its distribution system.

Seliena Corrington, a Clear Lake resident in the Bay Oaks subdivision, told the Chronicle on Tuesday, Sept. 15, that the discoloration was unsettling despite official assurances. "It is a little unnerving to be told it's safe though it doesn't look like we should be drinking it," Corrington said.

The city said testing of the treated water confirms it meets or exceeds all federal and Texas drinking-water standards. Staff will continue monitoring water quality across the distribution system.

The city's notice did not say when the discoloration is expected to clear or which neighborhoods are affected. It said additional information would be provided if conditions change.