Cookeville Water Issue Could Be Resolved Later This Week

Cookeville’s current musty-smelling water issue could be resolved later this week.

Water and Sewer Department Director Ronnie Kelly said the customers will likely have the foul-smelling odor until the water cycles out of the system.

“Due to some construction we’re doing at the plant and changing the process in dealing with the algae, we had to shut off the activated carbon for a while which takes out that taste,” Kelly said. “Probably about six million gallons got through the system without having that activated carbon attached to it.”

Cookeville’s Department of Water Quality Control reported Saturday that turnover at Center Hill Lake caused the water to taste and smell differently.

Kelly said the lake turnover isn’t uncommon, but noted that the activated carbon keeps the taste consistent when turnovers do occur.

“It happens usually in the spring, and we’ll sort of have the same thing happen in the fall,” Kelly said. “But right now with the construction, we’re putting about 100 percent of the flow through about 75 percent of the plant due to construction. We can’t feed that optimum amount of activated carbon that removes that taste, so that compounded the problem a little bit also.”

Kelly reassures Cookeville water customers that the water still meets standards and is safe to consume. Some in-home filtration systems may be able to filter out any smell or unpleasant taste.