This month's question comes from a customer of a small rural utility. Q. My tap water occasionally has a very strong musty odor. My utility informs me that this is caused by some harmless algae blooms that occur two to three times each year. The utility has assured me there is no health risk, but the odor makes the water almost undrinkable at times and unpleasant to shower in. Because this is not a regular nuisance, there are no plans to install a treatment process at the plant that would alleviate this problem.
Some contaminants pose health risks, while others simply create aesthetic concerns.
The obvious preferred solutions of ending the practices that cause the contamination or finding other sources of supply may not always be practical or may take several months or years to accomplish. Under federal guidelines, small utilities facing more stringent regulations are allowed to use home treatment as a way to achieve compliance in removing contaminants from their water systems, as long as the system maintains operation and maintenance control over such devices. Some larger utilities are also beginning to provide home treatment systems and maintenance services or referrals to their regular customers, on request, as part of their overall service. While no single system can treat for all contaminants, home treatment systems can be viable solutions to certain problems, but only with proper selection, installation, and maintenance. Not only can these systems be quite expensive, but if proper monitoring and maintenance procedures are not performed, they can actually add to the degradation of your water quality.