It sounds like the stuff of nightmares, or a bad drug trip: turning on the faucet for a glass of water, only to have worms come wriggling out of it. Residents of one Texas subdivision claim they’ve been finding worms coming out of faucets and clogging up sprinklers, and have been showing up with water samples to prove it to local authorities.

“That’s worms! That is so worms!” one woman told KHOU-11, holding up her sprinkler to show little slimy things clogging the inside. “That’s just gross. Oh my God, I’m freaking out right now.”

Another neighbor in the subdivision held up a bottle of water for the news crew, showing several tiny worms floating inside. She says it came out of her bathroom faucet.

About 30 people from the neighborhood showed up at the local water facility with samples to show, with worms varying from red to black, some almost resembling tadpoles.

The private company that provides water to the area said there was a power outage this weekend, prompting it to flush the system. It asked residents to start boiling their water on Tuesday, but said that after testing the water several times with state environmental agency and found no sign of worms. Instead, they’re blaming another source, saying perhaps it’s the pipes that are producing the worms.

But residents say that’s not the case, and showed up to confront the company. The mayor even came out and offered free bottled water and showers at a city facility. Meanwhile, he said state environmental crews won’t be able to assess the situation until Friday.

“It’s not good enough but what can you do,” said Old River-Winfree Mayor Joe Landry.

A spokesman for the water company said it’s following every step of protocol and working with the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality to address the problem.

Worms found in neighborhood’s drinking water [KHOU-11]

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