'Strong' chlorine smell coming from Germantown water supply, officials warn - FOX13 Memphis

'Strong' chlorine smell coming from Germantown water supply, officials warn | News | fox13memphis.com

GERMANTOWN, Tenn. - Germantown city officials on Tuesday said that there's a "strong" chlorine smell from its water supply after recent flushing to the distribution system.

"Some customers may be experiencing a stronger than normal chlorine odor due to water from the water treatment plants reaching their households faster than normal," the city said in a statement.

City officials said that though the order is strong, the chlorine in the water is safe to use.

The city issued the following statement regarding the chlorine smell in the water:

Due to the recent flushing of the distribution system, some customers may be experiencing a stronger than normal chlorine odor due to water from the water treatment plants reaching their households faster than normal. While chlorine naturally dissipates on its way to customers, the water reaching homes is "younger" than normal.

While the smell may be strong, the amount of chlorine in the water is safe.

The Southern Avenue water treatment plant uses a low concentration of the chemical sodium hypochlorite in order to disinfect and treat groundwater from the Memphis Sands Aquifer as one component of the water treatment process.

The state requires that a minimum chlorine residual of 0.2 mg/L remain in the pipes carrying the water throughout the distribution system. In order to sustain 0.2 mg/L of chlorine residual in the outer reaches of the distribution system, the City provides a chlorine concentration of 0.7 mg/L to 1.0 mg/L at its water treatment plants. This is common practice for public drinking water systems and is well below the allowable limits for treated water. The City has not increased its normal amount of chlorine being placed in the system for disinfection or chlorine residual.

This warning comes after an eight-day water crisis in the city that prevented residents from drinking water after officials said between 250-300 gallons of diesel leaked into its water supply due to a "human error" by a city employee.
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