OWASA: Water Safe Despite ‘Earthy’ or ‘Musty’ Odor and Taste

Officials with Orange Water and Sewer Authority are reassuring residents in the southern portion of Orange County that even though you may have noticed taste and odor issues, the water is safe to drink and use.

A release from OWASA said that several dozen customers have reported “an earthy or musty taste and odor in the tap water” over the past week.

Officials say that algae growing in the Cane Creek Reservoir and University Lake is causing that variance and that staff is continuing to work to resolve the issue.

Algae is removed during the treatment process, according to OWASA, but “organic compounds may remain in the drinking water that can cause earthy or musty taste and odor.”

Kenneth Loflin is OWASA’s water supply and treatment manager. He said in a release:

“We are working to provide drinking water which is aesthetically pleasing in addition to being safe and healthful. We appreciate very much the calls and e-mails from customers who have reported taste and odor in our water, and we are working to resolve this.”

Officials say treatment modifications have been introduced in an attempt to remedy the changes, including “increased use of powdered activated carbon.” Water that has been treated and is leaving the Jones Ferry Road Water Treatment Plant in Carrboro is back to “near normal taste and odor quality,” according to OWASA. But water that was already in the 380-mile network of water pipes and the water in storage tanks may still have the different taste and odor.

But, again, officials maintain that the water is safe for use.

OWASA had to issue a Do Not Use order for all customers served by the organization in February due to a combination of over fluoridation of the water and a broken water main.

‹

Wonderful Water: OWASA Infrastructure Improvements, New Meters and More

This week on Wonderful Water, join 97.9 The Hill’s Aaron Keck for a conversation with Todd Taylor, general manager of operations at OWASA. In the course of providing water to its community, OWASA treats more than 2 billion gallons of water over any given year and flows all of that water to local businesses and […]

OWASA to Resume Standard Collection Practices on June 1

The Orange Water and Sewer Authority will resume its standard collection practices beginning June 1, the agency announced in a release Monday afternoon. The move aligns with Orange County ending its state of emergency order for the COVID-19 pandemic, with the declaration expiring on Sunday. OWASA had maintained a moratorium on service disconnections and collection […]

Wonderful Water: OWASA's Report Card

This week on Wonderful Water, join 97.9 The Hill’s Aaron Keck for a conversation with Katie Harwell, laboratory supervisor at OWSA’s water treatment plant on Jones Ferry Road, about OWASA’s latest round of in-depth water testing and the associated annual report card.  According to Harwell, in the past year OWASA has met or surpassed all […]

Wonderful Water: Investing in Important Infrastructure

This week on “Wonderful Water,” join Aaron Keck for a conversation with Vishnu Gangadharan, OWASA‘s capital improvement projects engineering manager since 2006, and OWASA asset manager Alison Spinelli about the infrastructure that makes a crucial utility possible. According to OWASA, the non-profit utility agency invests roughly $20 million each year for capital improvement projects — work […]

Wonderful Water: OWASA, UNC Reclaim Water Together for More Than 10 Years

This week on “Wonderful Water,” join Aaron Keck for a conversation about conservation with OWASA wastewater treatment plant and biosolids recycling manager Monica Dodson and Brad Ives, the chief sustainability officer at UNC-Chapel Hill. “Over the last 15 years I’ve worked my way through [OWASA’s] laboratory,” said Dodson. “Then I was actually the operation supervisor […]

Wonderful Water: OWASA's Report Card

This week on “Wonderful Water,” join WCHL’s Aaron Keck in a conversation about water quality with Katie Harrold — a water treatment plant lab supervisor with OWASA — and Emily Rajappan, a high school sophomore and graduate of OWASA’s Youth Water Academy. OWASA went through a comprehensive battery of tests in 2018 for all steps […]

Wonderful Water: Mary Tiger & Agua Vista

This week on “Wonderful Water,” join WCHL’s Aaron Keck for a conversation with Mary Tiger, the sustainability manager for OWASA. You can listen to the full interview below, and check back next month for another conversation about the community’s water system! OWASA is a public service, non-profit entity that, according to Tiger, is “responsible for […]

OWASA Resumes Fluoridating Drinking Water

Orange Water and Sewer Authority restarted the process of fluoridating drinking water for the service area across Chapel Hill and Carrboro on Monday. OWASA stopped fluoridating the water in February when a keystroke error from an operate caused a fluoride overfeed. A Do Not Use order was then issued for the approximately 80,000 residents who […]

More Than 150 Residents Complain of OWASA Water Taste, Odor

For the second time in two weeks, Orange Water and Sewer Authority has issued a statement reassuring residents in southern Orange County that the water is safe. The concern has come from the water’s “earthy” or “musty” odor and taste that has developed over the last month. OWASA officials say the issue is being caused by […]

OWASA: Water Safe Despite 'Earthy' or 'Musty' Odor and Taste

Officials with Orange Water and Sewer Authority are reassuring residents in the southern portion of Orange County that even though you may have noticed taste and odor issues, the water is safe to drink and use. A release from OWASA said that several dozen customers have reported “an earthy or musty taste and odor in […]

›