CAÑON CITY — Residents here are complaining loudly about the musty taste and smell of water flowing from their taps since late July, the result of drought conditions that let algae take hold in the city’s water system.
The culprit is geosmin, a naturally occurring compound associated with algae growth in the water system.
There is no known health risk from the low levels of geosmin detected, according to city officials and the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment. But humans can detect its distinct earthy odor and taste even at minuscule levels.
It’s the smell often associated with damp earth, and the compound that gives beets their earthy taste, but it’s not something people want pouring from the showerhead or fouling the flavor of a cocktail as ice melts in the glass.
A standing-room-only crowd of more than 100 people lined up at the City Council microphone Monday to describe just how bad it is: My house smells like a swamp when I shower. My dog won’t drink it. I’m worried it will make me sick. When I run my swamp cooler, the whole house smells. My customers are sending their drinks back. And so on.
The special meeting was dedicated to the water issue that surfaced July 30 with a single complaint, followed by two more the next day and six over the first weekend in August. Talk of crappy water soon flooded social media streams.
More than 100 people showed up for a special meeting of the Canon City Council to discuss the problem giving their water a funky taste and odor. (Sue McMillin, Special to The Colorado Sun)
The city pulls all its water from the Arkansas River into a single storage reservoir that feeds the treatment plant. It also stores as much as 1,000 acre-feet — enough to serve 2,000 to 3,000 households for a year — in Pueblo Reservoir, an amount that dwindles in a hot summer through evaporation. That store currently measures 877 acre-feet.
One acre-foot is 325,851 gallons of water; Cañon City uses 4 million to 5 million gallons per day, water superintendent Travis Payne said.
Cañon City also supplies the Colorado Department of Corrections’ Territorial Facility and the East Cañon Complex with water, and the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has posted assurances on the safety of the water for staff, inmates and visitors.
Coincidentally, the prison commissaries began selling bottled water June 29, a spokesperson said, a change unrelated to the geosmin problem.
Payne said testing began with the first complaint and treatment soon followed. But, he told the crowd, the water department proceeded cautiously when increasing chlorine dioxide in order to treat the algae problem and pulling more fresh water into the storage reservoir to ensure it didn’t cause other problems for its 9,000 customers.
The trouble began in the storage reservoir. Payne explained that because of drought conditions he wanted to protect the city’s supply so the water wasn’t being refreshed as often as usual.
That, combined with higher water temperatures, allowed the algae growth, although there was no bloom and tests for toxic cyanotoxins were negative, he said.
The city also opened some fire hydrants to help clear the system and move water through the reservoir, although that was paused when some “river calls” came in last week.
Colorado’s complex water system gives users with “older” priority over those with more “junior” rights when drawing water from the river.
Cañon City’s water rights date to 1863; the calls on the Arkansas River last week were for 1867 rights, but moved up to 1870 this week — good news for Cañon City.
Economic impact
About 25 people attended a May 12 drought information session where Payne laid out some of the looming water challenges and asked people to conserve water. The city went to Stage 1 water restrictions July 1, aiming for voluntary compliance to reduce water usage up to 30%. A chart on the water department’s website shows mixed results, with only the fourth week in July reaching a 30% reduction from the three-year average.
Since the restrictions were enacted, consumers have been cutting 10% to 13% of their water.
While the city’s water is safe to drink, people are buying bottled water, boiling their tap water or using water filters to get the smell out.
Mayor Phil Lund suggested Monday that the City Council consider whether the city should assist such expenses.
“We’re charging people for good quality water and they’re not getting good quality water,” he said.
Heather Petersen, manager at My Brother’s Place, said the musty water has been expensive for the bar, which has been ordering bagged ice, canned soda and bottled water to keep customers happy.
Some customers have brought their own water and ice.
“At last week’s trivia night I lost a whole table of regulars that usually spend about $150,” she said. “They just walked out.”
At McClure’s Saloon, manager Angelea McCaffery said even the bar towels smell a bit funky after being washed.
Some other restaurants in town won’t offer soft drinks from their soda fountains until the problem is fixed.
The drought already has been hard on tourism — fewer rafters, fewer people fishing or simply enjoying the Arkansas River.
Relief on the way
Payne said water tests this week were encouraging, but he was awaiting results of a duplicate batch before suggesting the city is out of its geosmin funk. Results will be posted on the city’s website.
He’s had to send water to a Texas lab because no commercial testing was available in Colorado, although Denver Water has pitched in to help with some tests.
He’s heartened by the forecast of more rain in the coming week, a short-term boost to river levels that means the city can do more flushing of its system.
And the Southeastern Water Conservancy District on Aug. 6 approved a cooperative agreement with several entities to release up to 2,500 acre-feet, or 814.6 million gallons, of Fryingpan-Arkansas Project water into the upper Arkansas River in an effort to protect its health.
The added flow should reduce water temperatures and help take stress off fish and plants, according to a news release from Colorado Parks and Wildlife. And higher flows likely will help Cañon City residents get rid of their musty tap water.
