OGDEN - Roger Twitchell was born and raised in Ogden, but lived around the West for 30 years.

When he finally returned home, Twitchell was in for a nasty surprise. “I turned on my faucet . . . to see probably the dirtiest water I've ever seen,” Twitchell told the City Council on Tuesday night.

Twitchell was among a parade of residents urging the council to modernize the city's aging water system, which is decades old.

The council did endorse a plan to spend $30.2 million over the next five years to upgrade the water system as part of a $185 million modernization of the city's water, sewer and storm-water system.

Whether any of the needs will be funded in the coming year will be determined later as the 2006 budget is written.

To take care of all $30.2 million of water system needs would require a 267 percent increase in water rates, said Bill Cook executive director of the council. Selling bonds to raise the money is one of the city's options.

Resident Jeannine Loveland told the council that a 267 percent increase might be too steep, but she would willingly pay $10 more per month to improve water service to her home, which is 92 years old.

Patricia Boor-Stevens urged the council to find a way to modernize. “The water lines are the lifeblood of the city. No lifeblood, no city,” she said.

Gary Clark, who lives on the east bench, said water coming from his faucets is often filled with sediment. It's worse in the middle of the night, before other residents get the water running through the pipes. “White clothes are yellow from rust in the water,” he said.

Mayor Matthew Godfrey said the city is well aware of the sediment in the water flowing to one neighborhood. Fixing the problem, which will entail running pipes in a different configuration, will be expensive, he said. Nonetheless, it is part of the city's plan, he said.

A water conservation study performed for the city by Gilmore Engineering of Salt Lake City last year recommended Ogden conduct a water audit.

The age of many of the pipes, leaks and water line breaks indicate water loss might be a significant problem, the study found.

Marv Zaugg, the water department manager, said earlier Tuesday that his top priority for the next budget year is acquiring pressure regulators, which could cost $600,000.

On top of the $30.2 million in needs over the next five years, the city has $40 million to $50 million more worth of water system upgrades needed in the next 25 years, Zaugg said.