Orange would be rust. Not saying there isn’t a problem, just that everything is a crisis these days.
Where is the bad water coming from. Was it a household water supply anywhere else?
Testing that water for pollutants such as lead is simple. I think the water in my city’s water supply is tested daily.
The water was treated improperly and was too acidic. This caused rust from iron pipes and lead from lead pipes to get into the water. If the pH were higher, there would have been no problems.
So, it’s basically incompetence at the city level.
The use of Flint river water was supposed to be a temporary stopgap measure while a new pipeline was being constructed.