Testing The Water Flavor

A team of specialists evaluates Los Angeles' water supply by smell and taste.

1 minute read

August 18, 2004, 5:00 AM PDT

"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... 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."

"...On occasion, Moylan has been driven to the water source, sniffing for particular varieties of algae from a boat in the middle of a reservoir. She and her colleagues have detected smokiness that was traced to ash from brush fires and fishiness that was traced to freshwater clams dying in a filtration plant."

Thanks to Laura Kranz

Read the full story: Nose Knows if Something Is Wrong in Water

Monday, August 16, 2004 in The Los Angeles Times

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