"It smells like mold, and it tastes moldy," Water is safe to drink though

[The Straight Story]

Early algae outbreak is creating musty smell, taste


An unusually early algae outbreak is causing a bad taste and smell in the drinking water of Indianapolis Water customers.

The source of the algae has been traced to Prairie Creek Reservoir near Muncie, where water is released into the White River, which flows into Indianapolis Water treatment plants.

Officials say the algae bloom is the largest -- and earliest -- they've seen in 30 years, and it could affect nearly 70 percent of Indianapolis Water's approximately 1 million customers.

The algae produces chemical compounds that cause a musty taste and smell in water, which officials stressed is nonetheless safe to drink.

"It smells like mold, and it tastes moldy," said Bernie DeKoven, who lives in Irvington on Indianapolis' Eastside. He first noticed a difference in his water about a month ago. "It makes me not want to pay my water bill."

....

The algae does not make the water unsafe, she said.

http://www.indystar.com/article/20100427/LOCAL18/4270329/Water-stinks-but-it-s-safe-officials-say

[damntexdem]

1. Sure it's safe -- just like the air was for workers and volunteers at Ground Zero in NY.

Just to be sure, though, and for better taste, get a filter for your drinking water.

[KT2000]

2. first rule of environmental

hazards - Protect liable parties.
Having said the water is safe, anyone who gets sick is suffering from "hysteria, psychosis or depression from some childhood trauma."

[hedgehog]

3. I'm not sure about recent summers, but when I was a kid in Buffalo,

there were frequent algae blooms in Lake Erie. The county water department added so much chlorine to the water during the blooms that after showering, you'd go swimming to rinse the chlorine out of your hair!

[Ichingcarpenter]

4. Hey...... Everybody....... its safe

Off shore drilling, your water, your food, your vote, your banks, your economy, your pensions, your freedom of speech, your internet, your money, your CIA, your military, your ...........system

[Ichingcarpenter]

6. Fill free to add Nuclear and any other thing.

that we must not question

[MajorChode]

8. Since we've already gone down the road of hyperbole...

[Ichingcarpenter]

12. I hope that's with HFC..... well looking at the weight

of the guy I guess it is.... great...... trust that shit too


Seems his hair is starting to go......

[MajorChode]

13. Also that grin looks as if he's lost a bit of mental faculty

[thereismore]

5. Safe if you have a good liver. nt

[enlightenment]

7. How odd - I commented just the other day to my friend that

when I first turn on the tap in the morning I've been noticing a musty, mouldy smell (the drinking water is osmosis filtered, so I haven't noticed a taste difference).

The smell goes away after the water runs for a bit.

I live in Nevada.

weird.

[rucky]

9. Does it also count as a serving of vegetables?

[old mark]

10. We have been using a PUR water filter on all our cooking and drinking

water for several years, even for the animals. When the time comes to change the filter, the used one weighs several pounds while the new one is very light.

We do not drink straight tap water at all, ever.

m

[pipoman]

20. Believe Pur is a charcoal filter

which is a decent taste, odor, and large contaminate filter, add a reverse osmosis filter to remove the tiniest contaminants which isn't always necessary.

[underseasurveyor]

11. And it probably is safe

The levels of algae aren't going to be high enough to be toxic especially after being treated. The chlorine should be more of a concern than the algae.

I'd drink it:beer:

[Ichingcarpenter]

14. probably is safe

I like the way you do science and health.

sounds like faith and religion.

[underseasurveyor]

15. Well the chlorine and/or other chemicals added certainly aren't good for you

The algae I'm not worried about. Algae is not mold. And while algae can be toxic in high doses, say like the concentrations found in some mussels, it's not likely that the drinking water there has toxic levels of algae. But since I'm not there 'personally' to test the water, like any good scientist should say, I can't say "for sure."

So yes, I'd probably drink the water.

[Ichingcarpenter]

16. The detrimental effects of a harmful algal bloom

The detrimental effects of a harmful algal bloom can range from cell and tissue damage to organism mortality, and can be caused by a number of mechanisms, including toxin production, predation, particle irritation, induced starvation, and localized anoxic conditions. As a result, a bloom may affect many living organisms of the coastal ecosystem, from zooplankton to fish larvae to people. The toxins produced by HAB. As noted above, only a few HAB species actually produce toxins that are poisonous to people and marine animals. The most well known HAB toxins are generically referred to as ciguatera fish poisoning (CFP), neurotoxic shellfish poisoning NSP), paralytic shellfish poisoning (PSP), diarrheic shellfish poisoning (DSP), and amnesic shellfish poisoning (ASP). Pfiesteria piscicida also produces two toxic fractions, dermonecrotic and neurologic toxins that impact fishes and humans (Bever et al. 1998, Grattan et al. 1998) (Lowitt and Kauffman 1998) (Noga et al. 1996).

Cyanobacteria also produce similar toxins that overlap with several of these general categories, including neurotoxins and hepatoxins. Symptoms of exposure to these toxins include gastrointestinal, neurological, cardiovascular, and hepatological symptoms. The algae that produce these toxins, and the specific symptoms they cause, are summarized in Appendix A. The terms "fish" and "shellfish" are associated with these illnesses because the toxins concentrate in the fish and shellfish that ingest the harmful algae; people and marine mammals may be poisoned when they consume the affected seafoods.

Other harmful algal blooms produce toxins with no identifiable effects on humans but devastating impacts on coastal living resources. For example, the flagellate Heterosigma akashiwo is thought to produce an ichthyotoxin that kills fish

http://www.freedrinkingwater.com/water_quality/quality1/1-toxic-aglae.htm


What are cyanobacteria?

Cyanobacteria is the scientific name for blue-green algae, or "pond scum." The first recognized species were blue-green in colour, which is how the algae got their name. Species identified since range in colour from olive-green to red.

Cyanobacteria form in shallow, warm, slow-moving or still water. They are made up of cells, which can house poisons called cyanobacterial toxins. A mass of cyanobacteria in a body of water is called a bloom. When this mass rises to the surface of the water, it is known as surface scum or a surface water bloom. Although we don't know the extent to which cyanobacterial blooms occur across Canada, we do know they mostly appear in the hot summer months and are quite prevalent in the prairies.

What are cyanobacterial toxins?

Cyanobacterial toxins are the naturally produced poisons stored in the cells of certain species of cyanobacteria. These toxins fall into various categories. Some are known to attack the liver (hepatotoxins) or the nervous system (neurotoxins); others simply irritate the skin. These toxins are usually released into water when the cells rupture or die. Health Canada scientists are more concerned about hepatotoxins than neurotoxins, because neurotoxins are not considered to be as widespread as hepatotoxins in water supplies. Very few cyanobacterial toxins have actually been isolated and characterized to date. Better methods of detection are being developed to help us learn more about them, especially to find out which toxins are a problem in Canada and what conditions encourage their production.
http://www.hc-sc.gc.ca/ewh-semt/pubs/water-eau/cyanobacter-eng.php


What ever ........ drink it if its moldy

[underseasurveyor]

17. Yea yea yea

Cyanobacteria can sometimes be found in the home aquarium too. It's can be a bitch to get rid of once it infects your tank but a course of antibiotics gets rid of it.
Every year we get numerous sea lions on the beaches suffering from domoic acid poisoning. It can affect humans too.. so, that means stay out of the ocean?


There are many natural biotoxins in the world, what are you going to do panic at each one? And not all algae blooms are cyano's.

[Ichingcarpenter]

18. He's talking about his city's drinking water and besides

You don 't drink sea water. The point is pond scum is Toxi because of the build up in the lower organisms which they can handle better than higher organisms

[underseasurveyor]

19. Alright

Panic all you want.

[pipoman]

21. -snick-

:D

[pipoman]

22. Algae blooms are the inevitable side effect of reservoir/surface drinking water

always has been, since forever.