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Cañon City officials say tap water is safe; tests point to geosmin taste-and-odor issue
Summary
City staff told residents at an Aug. 10 special council meeting that recent taste-and-odor complaints stem from geosmin linked to low flows and warm reservoir temperatures; bacteriological and cyanotoxin tests returned no public-health detections, staff said.
Mayor Lund convened a special Cañon City Council meeting Aug. 10 after weeks of resident complaints about a swampy smell and bad-tasting tap water. Travis Payne, the city’s water superintendent, said routine bacteriological testing at 20 distribution sites and additional sampling show results within drinking-water guidelines and that extra state-recommended cyanotoxin testing returned a "non detect." Payne warned that the problem is primarily aesthetic rather than a public-health contamination.
Payne described laboratory taste-and-odor testing the city sent to an out-of-state facility, naming the compound the city is tracking: "Geosmin was 5.41 nanograms per liter" in one sample and higher numbers in reservoir samples, he said. He said the city sent four samples (river, raw water to plant, finished plant water and a complaint site) and will continue trend testing; the city will also post results and an explanatory infographic online. "Yes. It is" safe to drink, Payne said when asked directly about safety, adding staff were monitoring chlorine residuals, turbidity and total-coliform results.
