Algal Bloom Puts a Taste in the Water
Lake Austin supplies some drinking water to Austin. Photo courtesy the Austin Watershed Protection DepartmentAn algal bloom in Lake Austin could make your drinking water taste a bit musty in the coming days. Austin Water says the water is safe, but it might smell and taste different.
Jason Hill at Austin Water says they’ve been noticing lots of blue-green algae in the lake.
“To counter that, we add carbon to our treatment process,” Hill said. “When we do that it helps to absorb the two chemicals that the blue-green algae releases that causes this earthy or kind of dirt-like taste.”
Hill says the bloom is a result of recent weather and may also be affected by the LCRA’s curtailing the downstream water flow to agriculture as a result of last year’s drought.
