the water
first let me say that I am happy to have water coming into my house through the pipes and not through the front door. That being said I have a question for those of you that have been here in New Orleans before and after the hurricane, Did the water always have this strong chlorine smell? Maybe I should ask if this is just me or do others have this issue? Now coming from Florida I am used to water having a funky smell but usually it is sulphur not chlorine. I have been around pools my whole life and chlorine can kill you if you drink/eat too much of it and so you see my concern.
As I brush my teeth in the morning I usually leave the water running and I know that is very bad for water conservation but I recycle and one girl can only do so much, anyway I now have to turn the water off while I brush because the chlorine actually smells that strong.
So tell me is this something new or is this just one of those old city quirks I must learn to live with?
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Uhm no. I’ve been living in the city since the 1980’s - there’s no chlorine smell in the water - check your pipes. My parent’s place in mid city has water running there again, and also no chlorine smell.
well it’s been my experience that since the floods, my water in midcity also smells heavily of chlorine. i’ve let all my pipes run every time i’ve gone home, for upwards of half an hour, before using the water in them, since i’m not living there on a regular basis and the water isn’t flowing in the pipes regularly, to clear them out. but i too have smelled it. i’ve just assumed it was part of the s&wb’s efforts to make the water potable post-flood.
the last time i was home i did drink the water out of my own tap and also that of others’ in midcity… about a week later when i returned to kentucky, i got horribly sick with a bacterial infection in my stomach. i don’t know if i can attribute it to the water or not - no proof - but i also can’t think of anything else that would have made me so miserably sick for almost 10 days.
next time i won’t be drinking the water, no matter who says it’s potable!
Rayna,
I live in the quarter and I don’t notice anything different about the water. The radio station has gotten some complaints about Jefferson parish water smelling like clorine but the parish government tells us nothing has changed.
I’ve been drinking that smelly crap-water for months (off and on) and (knock on wood) have not had any problems. It does taste and smell funny. I don’t know that I’d call it a chlorine smell. More of a clorass smell.
Is the water soft or hard?
Laurie
Trying pouring coffe down your pipes, not scalding hot. It’s an acid - Community Coffe Dark roast - Strong!
Laurie
How is that going to help with the water coming into her house?
Anyway, the comment I posted with all of the links to the SWB and the latest reports to the EPA about the water quality got caught in approval limbo, but there were no quality violations in Oct. 2005 at either of the cities water works.
New Orleans tap water has always been nasty. Period. Immediately following Katrina it was lousy with chlorine, like pool water. I think it’s settled down since, but if you’re coming from another place in America, be prepared for some shockingly nasty tap water. The water comes straight from the filthy goddamn river, so you know they have to process it first. This is life. I mostly drink beer.
I’ve lived here since 1980 & have never had a smell to my water - I live in Algiers. Even after Katrina I have noticed no change to the taste or smell. Of course, we were luckier than most over here.
I don’t know what some of you people are talking about. New Orleans has had some of the best water in the country for years, the annual water content reoprt the S&WB mails out is always wonderful.
As for the chlorine, that is new. I usually notice that when I leave the city, even as close as Kenner, but the water has never been chlorinated. Thankfully the chlorine is starting to go away. It was probably just to disinfect the pipes/water after the storm.
Ok thanks for all your reasurrance that the water might or might not have chlorine in it. I am going to take the advice of many and stick to bottled water and other more lively refreshments for the time being.
If it’s the pipes pouring coffee down works.
You can also use a bottle of vinegar.
Would buying a water hardener make a difference?
Go to the hardware store ask about a water hardener - see what they say.
Laurie
One more report to add to the list: I’ve been drinking nothing but bottled water since returning to New Orleans in late October because the chlorine smell coming out of our taps makes me dizzy. I remember the water being OK before we evacuated; unless I was spoiled by the Evian quality of Lafayette’s supply during our evacuee period, I have to assume it’s a post-Katrina development, at least in our little corner of the Marigny …
You remember the water being okay before Katrina?
That’s funny because I distinctly remember the water tasting like algae this summer, reason being the river level was so low that algae was being sucked into the S&WB intake pipes. in fact, there were newspaper articles and blog posts all about it.
I evacuated with a frozen 1 liter bottle of tap water to keep the cooler cold, and I remember thinking I should save it because it had that algae smell that might bring back memories of a less disasterous era.
The water in Treme definitely tastes like it’s being pumped in from a public swimming pool. Chlorinated as all hell. Like the above poster said, I can’t even leave the water running while I brush my teeth because the smell is so strong.
Oddly enough, when I got home the first week of October, the water didn’t taste like chlorine. It was a bit after that when the kiddie-pool taste arrived.
After the hurricane, the S&WB is not treating the water the same as it was before the storm yet. Chlorine by itself is the disinfectant. Before the storm Chlorine + Ammonia to form monochloramine was the disinfectant. Chlorine by itself has a stronger smell of chlorine and kills germs better. Monochloramine is not as strong smelling, stays in the water better especially during the summer and does not form as many disinfection by-products such as trihalomethanes (chloroform, etc.) So yes, the water is different, but partially being done now because of potential leaks and not as much water usage, etc.
Did any one here happen to see the latest installment of “Dirty Jobs” with the Sump Pump?
Laurie