BELLWOOD, Pa. -- Polluted water flows into a water system in the Alleghenies that about 80,000 people tap into every day. The Altoona City Water Authority is working to clean it up, but they said it's not easy.

Bear Loop Run, outside of Bellwood, flows into the Bell's Gap Watershed. However, before it gets there it runs straight through an old strip mine that is polluted with dissolved metals and sulphate.

The Altoona City Water Authority has been working to clean it up since last September. They hired engineers to re-route the water so it avoids the deep mines and flows naturally, but they've hit roadblocks with the DEP.

"We're caught up in permitting right now. So until we get the permits, this project is at a standstill," said project manager Tobias Nagle.

While the water mostly serves Bellwood and Tipton, it's flows into the rest of the water in the Altoona water system.

Water officials said the water is OK for the people who drink it because it goes through an extensive treatment process. However they're still paying for it.

"Dirtier water is harder to treat. ...So it becomes more expensive," said Nagle.

Nagle said about 40 percent of the water supply is polluted by the acid mine drainage, which is reflected on customers' water bills.

Water officials said they hope the DEP can speed up their permits, but officials with the DEP told Channel Six News they could not say where they are in the permitting process.