Bright Green Dye Flowing In Berkeley Creek Non-Toxic

BERKELEY (CBS SF) -- Strawberry Creek on the UC Berkeley Campus campus is a beautiful gem, but the stream's color took a turn this week that had some students alarmed.

On Thursday, the creek was flowing florescent green. UC Berkeley environmental protection specialist Tim Pine said the change in color wasn't biological, a biohazard or even a bad thing.

"It's the result of some work we're doing to figure out where some pipes go," explained Pine.

Very old pipes, as it turned out. Some are more than a hundred years old. Maintenance crews added a special non-toxic green dye to learn the pipes' paths.

So now they know, sort of.

"I actually don't have the results yet," said Pine. "The test are ongoing."

Now the creek is crystal clear and flowing normally. Retired public works director and consultant Bob Guletz told KPIX 5 the use of fluorescent dyes isn't unusual.

"It's standard practice in the industry for plumbers, cities and maintenance crews all over the country," said Guletz.

The university says they may need to use the dye again as work continues upstream. The good news is the dye quickly fades from the water.