City and community leaders in Waco had a chance to tour the site of the new drinking water treatment facility. The plant began its water pretreatment process last summer, but officials said they only recently starting running the ozone disinfection process. Ozone is a well proven option for reducing taste and odor problems in drinking water. Since then, officials with Waco’s Water Utility Services said they have noticed a difference in the smell and taste of the city’s water. Waco has had problems with taste and odor for many years prior to the improvements.
The problem came from algae growing in Lake Waco, the city’s main water source. Officials said when the algae die after being deprived of sunlight, they release a chemical compound called Geosmin which can affect the smell and taste of the water.
The addition of the dissolved air flotation (DAF) pretreatment plant means more of the algae can be removed before the water reaches the water treatment plant. Ozone then removes the dissolved compound Geosmin via oxidation. Officials said the pretreatment plant has brought the cost of water treatment down between 20 and 30 percent, because fewer chemicals are now needed at the main treatment plant. While costs have gone down, capacity has gone up from approximately 60-million gallons to 90-million gallons a day.