Nose Knows if Something Is Wrong in Water
In a room specially pressurized to keep stray odors out, the panelists sniffed, swizzled, gulped, drew sharpened pencils from a laboratory flask and carefully jotted down their findings.
"Grassy," opined Suzanne Teague. "Grassy and chalky."
"Chalky," agreed Eric Crofts.
"Cardboard," intoned Salvador Pastor.
But these were the merest of undertones, the panelists agreed, ranking each odd flavor near the bottom on a zero-to-three scale of offensiveness.
No remedial action would be required: It was just another vigilant yet uneventful afternoon for the folks who try to ensure that the 1.5 billion gallons of water put out daily by the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California taste more of natural spring than mattress spring.
The flavor profile analysis panel is the first line of defense in MWD's ongoing fight against taste and odor, where there should be none, flowing from faucets.
The problem is especially severe in the summer. That's when blue-green algae can bloom in the reservoirs, lending a distinctive, musty taste to even the most thoroughly treated water. Water officials are quick to describe the condition as "an aesthetic problem" rather than a health concern.
While harmless, such events are setbacks for utilities such as MWD, where officials describe the ideal water much as political consultants describe the ideal candidate: odorless, colorless, bland, yet somehow refreshing.
"It shouldn't really taste of anything," said Bart Koch, the head of MWD's water lab. "But it should be aesthetically pleasing."
For more than two decades, MWD has subjected water from various sources in its 5,200-square-mile domain to the scrutiny of highly trained employees at the utility's main laboratory in LaVerne. For half an hour or so a few times a week, they sniff and sip, sampling MWD, vintage 2004.
Between rounds, they cleanse their palates with unsalted crackers and swigs of mineral water. But most of all, they render judgments, from blessed neutrality to a rarely detected taste they liken to anchovies.
"A lot of times there are off-flavors and odors that our equipment can't detect," Koch said. "No matter how complex our instrumentation, the nose is better."
And what noses!
Serving since the panel was established in 1981, Peggy Moylan has the current group's most-seasoned schnoz.
- Water in 3 Counties May Have Musty Taste, Odor Sep 13, 2001
- FULLERTON - Temporary Procedure to Affect Water Taste Jun 06, 1995
- Countywide - Agency Will Change Water Disinfectant Jun 05, 1992
