How To Get Rid Of Smelly Water

Water employees in Mountain View, CA, are facing off against a smelly-water problem. 

The solution? The utility is trying to flush the smell out by emptying water out of fire hydrants, according to ABC 7. Asst. Public Works Director Gregg Hosfeldt explained the approach.

"We are trying to be water conservation-minded but still have to operate a system which looks odd in this situation, but we can't survive without doing this," he said.

"It's unpleasant. We immediately did a number of water quality tests, and the water met all the standards, but the secondary part of that is we want the water to be really pleasant for our customers. So we decided to flush them really quickly and solve the problem," he said. 

The drawback to this approach: wasting water during California's historic drought. 

The upside to this approach: appeasing customers. "What finally pushed them into the situation was smelly water. Customers called and complained about the smell. The water wasn't unsafe, it was just stinky," the report said.

Fire hydrants would have gotten drained either way, eventually. "Crews usually flush the hydrants once a year. They were trying to wait for a year and a half this time but found it was a little too long," the report said. 

The strange part of the story? Conservation was the root of the problem. 

"It happened because people have done such a good job of conserving water. Instead of flowing, it sat and got stale," the report said.

Odor can be a difficult problem for utilities. Gary Burlingame, administrative scientist with Philadelphia Water Department's Bureau of Laboratory Services, explained the complications involved with this issue. 

"Water utilities often don't deal with this issue till it becomes a problem; then once it's gone, they stop dealing with it and it comes back again. Analyzing water samples for tastes and odors is time-consuming and expensive. Most utilities have to contract it out, and outside labs generally charge $200 to $400 per sample. So it's a struggle for utilities to look at this problem proactively," he said, according to the Water Research Foundation.

IWA Publishing sell a decision tree to help utilities grapple with odor problems. "Utility personnel can quickly learn how to be detectives for their systems without the training necessary to be experts," the description says.