Arlington was recently recognized for having the "best-tasting water in Texas." But now algae in one of the city's main water sources is leaving a bad taste in the mouths of city water officials.
Mother Nature is in some hot water with Arlington Water Utilities.
"It caused the algae to grow here in late summer," said Craig Cummings, assistant director of treatment for Arlington Water Utilities.
The hot and sunny weather has led city water officials to discover what they call an unusually large amount of algae this year in Lake Arlington, which feeds directly into one of their two water treatment plants.
As that algae dies, it releases a compound, which has made the water from that treatment plant smell and taste funny.
"It was typically identified as being earthy or musty," said Cummings. "And that's pretty offensive if you smell it in the shower."
Cummings stresses the water is perfectly safe to drink and bathe in, and there are no health risks associated with it. The compound only affects the taste and odor of the water, which is something in which the city takes great pride.
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Arlington Water Utilities has won numerous awards, including the Texas Water Utilities Association "best-tasting water in Texas" award for 2015.
"We take it very seriously," said Cummings. "This is a situation where Mother Nature threw us a curve ball and we responded very quickly."
Once they discovered the odor, water crews switched customers to their other water treatment plant, while they began making changes to the treatment process at the plant into which Lake Arlington feeds.
Cummings said aiding that cause is that the algae levels in Lake Arlington seem to be dropping.
"The raw water coming in being a better quality and our treatment changes are making the water taste much better," said Cummings.
Arlington residents with whom NBC 5 spoke admit they haven't been able to tell much of a difference.
"It's not bad at all," said D'Nice Williams, who lives in Arlington. "It tastes about the same everywhere."
Cummings said they've slowly started pumping water from the Lake Arlington plant back to customers' homes.
