Funky Tap Water Caused By Safe Algae

If the water flowing from your faucets smells a wee bit funky and looks a wee bit murky, fret not, and drink up: it's only algae.

Millions of Bay Area water customers might experience the less-than-crystal-clear water until the middle of next week after an algae bloom was detected at the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission's Calaveras Reservoir near Fremont, according to the Bay Citizen.

The blue-green algae does not present any health risks, the PUC claims. Usually, when a bloom is detected, water flow from the affected reservoir is shut off. In this case, water flow was continued because the water level in the reservoir needs to be reduced in order to complete work on the dam.

That means some Bay Area water customers had an interesting taste in store for them.

"It smelled and tasted like potting soil," San Francisco resident Jesse Taggert told The Bay Citizen. "I thought it was that my Brita filter was old, but then I was in the shower and I got a whiff of it."

The reservoir has since been taken offline, the PUC reported. The reservoir will be treated with the chemical sodium percarbonate, the Bay Citizen reported, and will be back online after the algae is killed off.

In the meantime, drink up!