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NTMWD: Water is safe for consumption; smell, odor have no effect on water quality
By Kenny Green, kgreen@starlocalnews.com
Next time you go to take a sip of water from the faucet you may notice a grassy taste or smell. This is all caused by a recent algae bloom in Lake Lavon, which is the collection lake for all cities served by North Texas Municipal Water District (NTMWD).
“We are experiencing an algae bloom which is a natural occurrence when conditions are optimal,” said Denise Hickey, NTMWD spokeswoman. “The water may have a taste or odor or both. This year we are experiencing both. Our lab results are showing the highest levels we have ever seen. We attribute this to the drought that allowed the exposure of the shorelines. All of those plants are now under water and decaying. This is providing a food source for the algae.”
Algal blooms occur when high temperatures warm the reservoirs, little or no rainfall has occurred, and sunlight penetrates the water allowing photosynthesis to occur. When these conditions are present, the blue green algae species Nostoc and Anabaena will reproduce or bloom.
Hickey said that the odor and taste of the water has no impact on the quality of water consumers are drinking.
“The algae bloom does not affect the quality of the water. It still meets all the safe water drinking standards,” Hickey said. “The most noticeable thing for consumers will be a grassy taste or odor. It really smells like untreated lake water.”
Hickey said that the NTMWD has an ongoing project that once completed will significantly reduce any future effects of algae outbreaks on the taste and odor of the water supply.
“At our current facility we don’t have the ability to 100 percent remove the effects of the algae. We have a large construction project underway which will add ozone to our treatment process,” Hickey said. “It is a four to five year project.”
Ozonation is a water treatment process that destroys bacteria and other microorganisms through an infusion of ozone, a gas produced by subjecting oxygen molecules to high electrical voltage. The process will improve water quality.
“The most noticeable effect of the new process on the water will be that it will minimize odor and taste that occurs,” Hickey said. “Ozonation is a major upgrade in meeting the new water standards.”
Hickey said the $125 million ozonation project will be completed in stages.
“We have four different water treatment plants at our facility. Plants three and four will be online (with the ozonation) first. Plants one and two were built in the 1950s and 1970s and will have to undergo the most intense construction to implement the new process,” Hickey said. The construction work began in 2008 and is expected to be completed in 2013 and 2014.
For information on the algae bloom or answers to any other question or concern about the NTMWD water supply, visit www.ntmwd.com.
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