For a few hours, students looking to answer the call of nature found locked bathrooms in the Humanities building Wednesday.

The restrooms were closed from about 10:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. because workers had to perform routine plumbing maintenance, according to Brenda Lee, administrative assistant to Robert Hutson, associate vice president of Facilities and Services Enterprises.

After the maintenance was finished, students found brown, discolored water coming out of the faucets in multiple bathrooms.

The brown water was not pleasant to look at, but typically isn't harmful, according to a local plumber.

“A lot of times when you shut a water system down, you'll get discoloration when you restart it,” said Travis Bryning, a plumber with Smelly Mel's Plumbing. “Restarting the system can knock some sand or rust into the water, but it should clear up pretty fast.”