Saturday morning, Sarah J. Nettle of Kansas City, Missouri, started her morning like any other day by making a cup of coffee using water from her kitchen sink. As she took a sip from her warm cup, she noticed something odd about the taste.
“It tasted extra chemically with extra minerals,” said Nettle. “It doesn’t taste bad, it just had a different taste.”
Nettle wondered if it was a problem with her personal plumbing. But when she opened the neighborhood app NextDoor, she saw she wasn't the only one commenting that there was something "off" about the water.
“I posted 'did anyone else notice their water tasting weird?' and like three minutes later someone else posted the same question," Nettle said.
Within the next couple of hours, KC Water posted about the problem on social media. They said heavy rainfall north of the Kansas City area caused runoff from the Missouri River, Kansas City’s source for drinking water.
Last Wednesday, June 25, torrential rains gushed into the Platte and Grand Rivers, rapidly making their way down to the Kansas City area via the Missouri River. With that water came ammonia and other chemicals embedded in topsoil, particularly from farmland.
“We have 800,000 customers that we reach for the metro area," said KC Water Utility Operations Manager Jarreck Lucke. "Since the weekend transpired, I think we have 165 complaints that have come through thus far."
Lucke emphasized the water is safe for drinking and bathing. He said the utility is working steadily to return water to normal for consumers. The scientists are working out the chemical combinations to mitigate the impact of additives from the runoff.
“So right now, for taste and odor, we have permanganate (a water-treatment, oxidizing agent). We can add polymer, which is a large coagulant. We can also add ferric chloride, which, in essence, is (also) an oxidizer.”
But overlooking the water in a section of the treatment facility, what's most visible is a black stream billowing from the wall into the water. It's powder activated carbon, said Lucke.
“The powder activated carbon is a very good absorbent for a multitude of issues that can come into any treatment facility,” said Lucke. “And so it's a really good catchall to support anything that comes down the river and anything in the future that might hit this facility.”
While unpleasant changes in the drinking water are not uncommon during flood season, Lucke said KC Water will be taking additional steps to prevent the tainted water from coming through again.
“So in the City of Leavenworth, we are in conversations with them about a response," Lucke said. "Let's say, if they see something before us, because it might take an additional day before it comes to us. So we're trying to have a reach-out program between us, them, and the D.N.R (Department of Natural Resources)."
Sarah J. Nettle, meanwhile, has faith in the city's water treatment program and is looking forward to a good cup of coffee, at least by Wednesday.
“I appreciate them putting an explanation out there and I think, you know, if they've got extra stuff in it to keep drinking water safe, that's fine by me. I understand that.”
