Foul water taste caused by runoff

If you’ve noticed a foul taste in the water during the past couple of days, you are not alone.

On Thursday, Lawrence City Hall received about a dozen complaints from people about the water taste, city spokeswoman Lisa Patterson said. Most were saying it had a salty taste.

The problem stems from changes in the characteristics of the water taken out of the Kansas River, she said. Those changes are caused by melting ice and subsequent groundwater runoff, she said.

The water is being treated and adjustments have to be made continuously in ridding the water of any unpleasant taste, Patterson said. It also takes awhile for that water to work out of the city’s system, she said. The water also is constantly tested and is safe to drink, she said.

“The water that people are getting today would have been put into the system a couple of days ago,” Patterson said. “We’ve been working to make all the adjustments to get back to the water that people are used to.”