The earthy taste many Canberrans have noticed in their water is likely to only go away with time according to Icon Water.
Last week the taste in Canberra water differed, which manager environment and sustainability at Icon Water Ben Bryant said could come for a variety of environmental sources.
"We've detected the presence of this organic odour and taste compound that's originating in our catchment raw water supply under Bendora Dam in the Cotter and that's coming down through our Stromlo water treatment plant," he said.
"First and foremost, we want to reassure people that although they might notice this earthy taste in their water at the moment, it continues to be safe to drink."
The reason for the taste comes from an organic compound 2-Methylisoborneol (MIB), a carbon hydrogen and oxygen atom which is naturally occurring in water sources around Australia and is "not a cause for concern".
"It comes from a lot of different environmental sources and we know one of those sources could be an algal bloom but we've discounted that," Mr Bryant said.
"What we think might have happened instead is we know the water has turned over in Bendora catchment, so it's a bit like a lasagna, usually water stratifies out at different temperature levels.
"From time to time it turns over and mixes up and usually on the top two thirds of Bendora mixes but in this instance, what's happened is it's mixed through the enter water column and so we think it might have stirred up some of the sediment on the bottom of the reservoir."
The number of wet years could be a component to stirring up the water, giving it the earthy taste which Mr Bryant said will be challenging to know exactly when the taste goes away.
Mr Bryant said they were "dealing with nature" when it comes to awaiting for the aesthetic to lower back to what is normally experienced at the top row of water.
"It's hard to give a timeline of when it might become less noticeable ... what we're doing is we have enhanced our monitoring with this event," he said.
"That helps inform our choices on where we abstract, so where we take water out of the reservoir, we can take it out at different levels and so we look to find the sweetest spot to take out that raw water for supply so where it's going to be the best tasting water."
We've made it a whole lot easier for you to have your say. Our new comment platform requires only one log-in to access articles and to join the discussion on The Canberra Times website. Find out how to register so you can enjoy civil, friendly and engaging discussions. See our moderation policy here.
