In response to taste and odor issues, Ossining is now operating the Indian Brook Reservoir at 100% for our water supply. We will use this time period to design and implement a Powder Activated Carbon System to address this and similar issues in the future. In the interim, we will continue to use 100% Indian Brook as our water source while we continuously monitor reservoir levels. System demand is low this time of year, so it will take several days for the Croton Reservoir water already in the system to flush itself out. During this time, you may continue to detect taste and odor issues. However, within the next week or two, we anticipate significant improvements.
Recently we have been experiencing taste and odor issues with our water, described by residents as a musty taste and smell. It was determined by New York City that taste and odor issues stemmed from a specific organic compound 2-Methylisoborneol (MIB), produced by algae, detected in the Croton Reservoir, where Ossining draws most of its water from.
While Ossining and Westchester County continuously monitor water quality, we have been conducting additional tests under the guidance of Kirk Nowak, Ph.D., the leading expert in the country on taste and odor issues associated with potable water, to gain additional information and develop more effective strategies to address this issue. Today, we received results from Engineering Performance Solutions, an outside laboratory that specializes in testing algae that can cause taste and odor issues. It was found that the Croton water source had a result of 105.0 (ng/L) MIB, and Indian Brook had a result of <1.0 (ng/L) MIB. We immediately called the Westchester County Department of Health to get authorization to move to 100% Indian Brook as our source.
This condition has never been experienced during the 33 years of the water treatment plant operation. Further, this is not an Ossining-only issue. The taste and odor has affected all municipalities that draw from the Croton Reservoir. Despite the taste and odor, the water has been and remains safe to drink.
We appreciate your patience and apologize for any inconvenience. As we embark on the construction of a new water treatment facility, we will be working closely with experts to incorporate technologies needed to prevent this and similar issues in the future.
Please contact the Indian Brook Water Filtration Plant with any questions at 914-941-0128.
