2.26.09

Water taste different? There's a reason.
By: Nancy Gaarder, Omaha World-Herald

If you live or work in eastern Omaha and thought your drinking water tasted a little off lately, well, you were right.

The Metropolitan Utilities District added extra chlorine at its Florence treatment plant because the raw water from the Missouri River was carrying extra debris from the snow melt that washed off fields earlier this month.

Mari Matulka, spokeswoman for M.U.D., said the extra disinfection occurred from February 9 to 20.

Paul Bures and his downtown co-workers noticed the difference earlier in the month. He said he can tell that the off taste has begun to subside. Some co-workers switched to bottled water, Bures said.

"I never stopped drinking it," he said. "I just noticed it had a little bit different taste."

Matulka said it takes four days or more for the extra-chlorinated water to work through the treatment process and about two more days to go through the distribution system to the customer's faucet.

The situation is typical of this time of year, Matulka said.

M.U.D.'s water surpasses all federal standards for safe drinking water, Matulka said.

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