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Antioch Drinking Water

Your drinking water is safe! 

We are aware of the unpleasant smell in the city’s water and we are taking steps to mitigate the problem. The Antioch Municipal Reservoir experienced a large algae bloom last week creating odor-causing substances, however, not all algae are harmful.

Algae are efficient at converting sunlight and nutrients into more algae. When conditions are right – like the extremely hot days we just experienced, algae can multiply very rapidly, causing algae “blooms.”  Some of the blue-green algae produce an odor substance, named geosmin. The human nose is extremely sensitive to geosmin and can detect it at very low levels.  These odors are not chemically toxic but do have a very unpleasant smell (musty and/or earthy).

Conventional water treatment can generally remove intact algae cells from the water.  The City of Antioch uses chlorine as a disinfectant to treat “raw” surface waters which can also safely destroy algae cells.  The pipes in our distribution system and the drinking water tanks were also exposed to the extreme heat which also contributed to the taste and odor in the city’s drinking water.

The Antioch Municipal Reservoir is being treated today for algae control and you should notice a difference within the next few days.

Please rest assured that the City of Antioch’s drinking water continues to meet and exceed all State and Federal drinking water regulations.

If you have any questions, you can contact Laura Villasana at (925) 779-7024 or [email protected]

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