July 11, 2007
Musty Water Smell Blamed on Algae Bloom in Potomac
Noticed a weird smell or taste in your tap water this week? Water authorities have begun treating raw water from the Potomac River with a carbon process, after customers began complaining on Monday. WTOP's Neal Augenstein reports the musty odor is the result of warmer temperatures in the river, which has led to an odd-smelling algae bloom.
According to an engineer quoted in the story, the carbon process is designed to absorb odors. The carbon is later removed in the rest of the treatment process, so the odors are absorbed and then water is delivered to customers with less taste and/or odor.
Arlington, Falls Church and D.C. residents may have all noticed the funny smell or taste. Washington Aqueduct, where water that serves the region is treated, is reassuring the public that the water still meets all of the drinking water safety standards.
Have you noticed?
Photo by kmcgee01
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We didn't notice it in the tap but we sure noticed it at the Tidal Basin last night. Whooee! It smelled like Lake Onondoga, which if any of you have been near in the summer, up in New York State, is an experience never to be forgotten, like getting an ass tattoo while drunk during Fleet Week. But I digress.
If you drink DC water, you should probably be more concerned with the lead and bacteria levels than some mildly offensive odor.
Somehow I doubt DC will be joining NYC and San Francisco's municipal water pimpfest. WASA is just atrocious.
I def noticed. Was thinking it was my office's old nasty water system or something.
Oh hells yeah I noticed! My water still smells like a fish tank.
Growing up in Dallas, the lack of algae bloom in the water is almost disconcerting. The taste of dirt in your water means summer has arrived.
Austin, Texas water smells like over-simmered pea soup this time of year.
"Fish tank" is a perfect description of the taste of water recently. Although it's still better than that sulfer water we had two months ago.
and here i thought my office sponge was getting old . . .
I haven't drank any water, tap or bottled, since 1986.
Just in time for the Nation’s Triathlon.
"Triathletes get OK to swim river"
http://www.examiner.com/a-824623~Triathletes_get_OK_to_swim_river.html
"We have a little saying in Springfield: if it's brown, drink it down. If it's black, send it back."
You think the stanky water is bad, wait until mid August. We haven't had a good "excessive turbidity"* warning in DC in a while. But the best ones are the lead warnings, when the mineral deposits that line the lead pipes start breaking off. WASA ups the mineral content of the water so that when it runs hot from your faucet, it looks like warm milk. Mmmmm.
*Translation: tiny balls of s**t in the water supply.
At least we haven't had the '90s warnings of cryptosporidium lately. Remember City Bikes selling waterbottles emblazened with the skull and crossbones and contamination warnings?
Really, it's all about stormwater and nutrient management. A nice little thing any Harry(ette) homeowner can do is to plant Dutch Clover (which adds nutrients and helps bees) in their lawn, rather than spraying fertilizer and whatnot.