MCLENNAN COUNTY, Texas — Whether you’re in the shower or having a drink, many people in our community want to know why we smell chlorine in our water.

• The city uses chlorine as its primary disinfectant, periodically switching to free chlorine to maintain water quality and prevent bacteria from becoming immune to the disinfectant.
• Conversion to free chlorine results in a different taste and odor in the water, which is a common practice in large systems like Waco to control bacterial growth.
• The conversion process usually lasts 30 days, from October 21 to November 18. After that, the system reverts to chloramines.

BROADCAST TRANSCRIPT:

“I went to take a shower the other day, and when I turned it on, it smelled like a pool,” said Waco resident Quentin Clemens.

A smell of chlorine persists in our city’s water; 25News reporter Dominique Leh met with the Clemmons family, who just moved to Waco a few months ago.

“It attacks the senses, the smell of chlorine. But honestly, the flavor is off-putting,” Clemens said.

25News reporter Dominique Leh visited the Waco water treatment plant in Riverside to find out why we’re seeing this smell. It turns out the city uses free chlorine as a disinfectant.

“This is an excellent and effective strategy to maintain biofilm or bacteria growth in the system,” said Kendall Borg, utility plant operations manager.

The water utility generally uses chloramines. They make the change at least once a year to keep our water clean and drinkable while improving overall water quality. But when it comes to taking a shower, you might notice another change besides the smell, but you don’t have to worry.

“It can dry out your skin, it can dry out your eyes a little bit, it can dry out your fingers, so when you touch your lenses you may feel a little bit of dryness,” Borg said.

I asked Kendall Borg at the city water department if there was anything I could do to make the chlorine taste better. He told me a filter might help.

“Depending on the filtration media, particularly carbon-based media, they can help remove some tastes and odors associated with free chlorine throughout the conversion period,” Borg said.

Borg said you might see more flushing through fire hydrants. The city will do this to ensure that free chlorine is distributed throughout the water system.

They made the change on October 21^st and will continue until November 18^th

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