AUSTIN, Texas – Officials with Austin Water are reassuring people that the water in downtown and in South Austin is safe to drink, despite an unusual smell.
- Water safe to drink
- Officials working to resolve issue
- Odor likely caused by Zebra Mussels
Utility officials said they are feeding powdered activated carbon into the water to fix the smell. Powdered activated carbon is often used to fix taste and odor issues.
Based on routine test results received Thursday morning and staff analysis, Austin Water believes that the odor issues were likely caused by the presence of Zebra Mussels in a raw water pipeline at Ullrich Water Treatment Plant.
According to Austin Water, the pipeline with the mussels is 72 inches in diameter and the mussels line the pipe with a 2 inch layer.
Austin Water said the pipeline is still in service as the system gets flushed and the issue should be resolved in 24 hours.