Annual Chlorine Maintenance
From
Bruceville-Eddy
Sent
Mon, Mar 25 @ 7:32am
Description
You might notice a slight change to the taste or smell of your tap water April 1 - 30. This is due to a temporary change in disinfectant by The City of Bruceville-Eddy and its’ water supplier, Bluebonnet WSC. Though your water might taste or smell different, it is safe for drinking and bathing.
What it is and why we need it:
Water suppliers must maintain a high level of quality throughout the water system to ensure drinking water is free of disease-causing microorganisms. This requires ongoing maintenance of the pipes that deliver water from Bluebonnet WSC and tanks and towers that carry and store our drinking water.
Bruceville-Eddy and its’ primary water supplier, Bluebonnet WSC, uses a mixture of chorine and ammonia to keep the distribution system clean and disinfected. For four weeks each year, both entities remove the added ammonia and use chlorine only. This temporary change in disinfectant takes advantage of chlorine’s effectiveness at eliminating microorganisms and gives our water system a “deep cleaning.”
Our water is safe. Here’s how we know:
The Environmental Protection Agency creates federal water quality guidelines based on thorough, peer-reviewed research. Every treatment process used by The City of Bruceville-Eddy and Bluebonnet WSC meets EPA safety criteria.
Hundreds of water quality tests are performed annually by the City of Bruceville-Eddy, the Bluebonnet WSC, and the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality. These tests verify that Bruceville-Eddy’s water meets all federal and state requirements for health and safety.
Please review the attachment for more information: Facts about Drinking Water Disinfection and the Free Chlorine Conversion Process
Water may taste or smell different because:
For most of the year, Bluebonnet WSC uses a combination of chlorine and ammonia to guard against bacteria in the water system. When ammonia is temporarily removed from the mixture, a chlorine taste and odor can become more prominent. Outdoor temperatures and overall water use also influence the reaction of chlorine to other materials in the water supply. This may cause smell and taste to fluctuate year to year. Chlorine taste and odor can be more pronounced the closed you live to a treatment source.
Bluebonnet WSC does not increase the amount of chlorine in the water during its four-week change in disinfectant; its taste and smell are more pronounced due to the absence of the ammonia.
Steps to reduce the taste or odor:
Not everyone notices a change in the water during this period. However, those who are sensitive to the changes can reduce chlorine taste and odor by running tap water a few minutes before using; refrigerating water in an open pitcher for several hours; or installing filters on faucets. While not required to meet safety standards, whole-home filtration systems can also help reduce taste and odors.
The City of Bruceville-Eddy is committed to water safety. Our latest consumer confidence reports can be viewed here: https://www.bruceville-eddy.us/water/
This notification was posted by Bruceville-Eddy. Bruceville-Eddy is solely responsible for this notification and unless specifically indicated, no other community or individual utilizing Savvy Citizen is sponsoring, responsible for, or endorsing this notification.
