Tap water taste funny? No, it’s not just you

From staff reports
Published: June 18, 2008

A glass of tap water from Charlottesville-area spigots should start to taste better in the coming days as water officials combat algae that bloomed after high temperatures earlier this month.

David Golladay, manager of the water department at the Rivanna Water & Sewer Authority, said the blue-green algae blooms every year in warm waters. The recent near-100 degree days hastened the growth of the algae at the South Fork Rivanna Reservoir, which has made the tap water taste musty.

“There are no health issues, just aesthetic issues,” Golladay said. “I do anticipate that the taste and odor problems will alleviate over the coming days. I hope it will happen within four or five days.”

Last Thursday, the department added three parts per million of powdered activated carbon, which absorbs some organic molecules, to the water supply. The department upped the dose to five parts per million on Tuesday, and increased it to seven parts per million on Wednesday.

“That’s a little high for us,” said Golladay about Wednesday’s carbon percentage. “Normally we go to five parts per million. We apparently had a problem that got ahead of us. We didn’t realize it was going to be that intense.”

The algae naturally begin to die off as the water cools. Golladay said that normally happens in late October.

Home water filters may not remove the musty taste. Golladay said he has heard that drinking the water cold with lemon can make the taste less obvious, although he has hasn’t been bothered by the taste of the water himself.