Abington’s stinky water is drinkable but is due to drought

Residents of Abington Township in Montgomery County have been reporting their drinking water smelling like chemicals or plastic for several days, but Aqua Pennsylvania said Thursday the water is safe to drink.

The company traced the problem to drought; The water provider will use different water sources.

“First and foremost, the water is safe to drink,” the company said in an emailed statement to The Inquirer. “The noticeable taste and odor, often reported as a stronger chlorine odor, can be traced back to our Neshaminy Facility, which supplies water to parts of Montgomery and Bucks counties. We believe drought conditions have caused changes in our source water, affecting the taste and odor of drinking water.”

The company said it expects “the issue will be resolved within the next few days” as rain helps drought conditions and the company adjusts its treatment process.

News of the odor spread quickly around the 15.5-square-mile county earlier in the week.

County Commissioner John Spiegelman posted on Facebook Wednesday morning: “extra chlorine-y/chemical-y taste and smellafter constituents contacted him about the issue.

Spiegelman then reached out to Aqua Pennsylvania, which provides water to much of the county. He reported that Aqua told him that the Neshaminy water treatment plant receives mixed water from different sources. Recently, 20 million gallons passed through the facility with a different mix than normal and drawn from different sources.

Because of the drought, he wrote, “some of this water had higher concentrations of substances that made the water taste and smell worse – and please excuse my unscientific terminology here.”

However, he also stated that the water was treated, chlorinated and tested, although some of the odor remained after the treatment process. Some describe the smell as equivalent to strong chlorine, plastic or metal, he said.

Spiegelman explained that Aqua begins filling the system with water from another source passing through the system. I was told that the process already reduces the odor and that the odor should go away within a few days.