You may never look at pivots and irrigation pipe the same way again.

Staining can be seen on those pieces of equipment in the area north of Highway 30 between Central City and Grand Island.

“It’s interesting to drive from Omaha to Harlan County dam and observe staining water on irrigation equipment,” said Randy Zmek, a 40-year agronomist.

Even within a half mile either direction of a spot to the west of Grand Island, there was a plethora of pivots with a brownish stain. It could have just as easily been green, because of the money it might cost some farmers to replace. A study done by the University of Nebraska-Lincoln found discolored pivots and pipe could be correlated to contaminants in water.

“They weren’t rusting because of the metal corroding, but they were rusting because of deposition of iron and other mineral scale on the surfaces of the pivots,” said Dan Snow, citing research done by a colleague at UNL.

“I had the state soil geologist and the extension agent take the drain caps off of pivots,” said Zmek. “We grabbed the orange crud from this stain that builds up in our irrigation equipment.” Zmek grew up farming and working this area of Nebraska.

From drain caps to sliding gates, the scale can build up and start to reside on, or in, those pieces of equipment, making it difficult to operate the most important aspect for a successful farm; consistent, flowing water.

“It does cause technical issues for irrigation systems,” said Snow. “I think there are some systems that get so corroded or plugged with scale that they can’t be used.”

Even if it’s not making a pivot unusable, there’s still the potential of increased maintenance. With Iron or Manganese in the mix, there's a likely chance it's the cause of a brown-stained pivot.

“Some suggestions by folks at the university that these can be indications of certain contaminants,” said Jesse Bradley, Director of the newly formed Nebraska Department of Water, Energy, and Environment. “If it’s the heavy metals, they are naturally occurring in local areas across the state. We know they’re in existence. They’re in the Ogallala high plains aquifer.

“Again, just keeping tabs on the quality of your water is probably your best first line of defense."

By staying diligent to keep the water clean and clear, hopefully, the right colors can keep shining bright.