What’s behind Calgary’s stinky tap water?

It’s happening at households across the city: Smelly and off-tasting tap water. But fear not say city officials as it poses no threat and is only temporary.

“It is safe to consume,” assured Mark Crowdis, manger of water quality with the City of Calgary.

“We have increased levels of what we call Geosmin in both the Bow River and the Elbow River. Geosmin is a naturally occurring safe bacteria,” he explained. “We don’t treat for Geosmin in our water treatment plant because it is not toxic and it is safe to consume.”

The smell is described as earthy and mouldy by some, chlorine-like by others. Basically, it depends on the sensitivity of your nose.

“It can be detected by five parts per trillion and up to even higher levels where we’re seeing now.”

Geosmin levels typically rise by the end of summer into early fall, but experts say low water levels may be adding to it this year.

“We feel this year, because of low flows in the rivers through our drought right now, that Geosmin level spiked a little earlier then we’re normally used to,” Crowdis explained, “but typically early October to mid-October we start to see those numbers come down.”

That’s when he says people should expect to see it fully dissipate.

In the meantime, residents are encouraged to put water pitchers in the fridge with lemons or to use a pitcher with a filter like Brita.