Over the last several days, seasonal conditions at the Kerr Reservoir have resulted in the treated water provided by the Kerr Lake Regional Water System (for which the City of Henderson is the Managing Partner and responsible Operator) to have both noticeable odor and taste qualities of which you may have noticed in previous years and are seasonal in nature.
The Regional Water Personnel are aware of these conditions and want to reassure all customers that while these seasonal conditions are present, the water is absolutely safe for all uses. The above is being confirmed on an ongoing basis, through continued monitoring and all system customers can be reassured that the water meets all federal and state public health standards and is safe for drinking and other uses. Generally, the earthly taste that might be found in your drinking water can come from an alga that grows in the Kerr Lake Reservoir during warm weather and abundant sunshine, such as has recently occurred.
This combined with the normal and seasonal turn over of the reservoir water has likely contributed to the current taste and odor conditions which you may notice. Even though the algae are removed in the treatment process, some dissolved traces of the earthly taste may still be recognized. We have adjusted our operations to fully minimize any unpleasant taste or odor you may have realized.
Even though this condition is not prolonged, the staff of the Kerr Lake Regional Plant is looking at alternatives to further mitigate conditions like this in the future.
In the event you experience this, you may do the following:
1. Call the Kerr Lake Regional Water Plant (252-438-2141) to discuss any unusual taste or odor if the information provided in the notice needs further explanation.
2. Store some drinking water in a loosely capped glass container in the refrigerator (warm drinking water has more taste than cold drinking water). Although some plastic bottles are adequate for storing drinking water in the refrigerator, some types of plastic will cause a taste in the water.
3. Use an electric mixer or blender to aerate the drinking water for a few minutes. This mixing will remove some of the earthly taste but not all.
4. All a squeeze of lemon juice to refrigerated drinking water.
Remember, the components of the water that can cause taste or odor in your drinking water are not contaminants that would affect your health. Again, we want to confirm that the drinking water provided by the Kerr Lake Regional Water System is safe and meets the Federal and State Safe Drinking Water Act requirements.
These conditions are expected to be temporary and normal taste and odor qualities are expected to return in the very near future.