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There are few things more unsettling than pouring yourself a nice, cold glass of water, taking a hearty swallow, and wondering whether you’ve accidentally dipped your cup into the Ohio River after a rainstorm.
Over the past couple of weeks, many residents served by the Beaver Falls Municipal Authority—including Beaver Falls, Chippewa Township, and nearby communities—have been asking the same question: What’s wrong with the water?
The good news is that, according to the authority, the water remains safe to drink.
The bad news is that “safe” and “pleasant” are not always synonyms.
Residents have reported water that smells or tastes vaguely of mold, dirt, or chemicals. The culprit, officials say, is unusually warm source water that has complicated the treatment process. In response, the authority has been flushing water mains and temporarily switching from chloramines back to chlorine as its primary disinfectant.
That may improve the taste over time. It may also mean your tap water briefly looks discolored or smells more like the neighborhood swimming pool than a mountain spring.
Such is modern civilization.
This isn’t the first water story Beaver County has seen. Earlier this year, several communities experienced temporary boil-water advisories after water main breaks and power outages. Last year, Industry Borough dealt with elevated manganese levels that particularly affected infants receiving formula. Some older water systems continue to wrestle with lead service lines, while utilities throughout the region keep a watchful eye on PFAS—the so-called “forever chemicals” that have become an increasing concern across the country.
To be fair, our local water authorities have generally responded responsibly. Water systems are enormously complicated pieces of infrastructure, many of them built decades ago and now asked to serve communities with aging pipes, changing environmental conditions, and increasingly stringent federal regulations. Keeping water both safe and affordable is no small assignment.
But none of that changes what happens at dinner.
If your family refuses to drink the tap water because it smells like a damp basement, the engineering explanation offers limited comfort.
That’s why I’ve become a believer in keeping a reliable source of drinking water in the house.
If someone asked me where to start, my first recommendation would be Primo Water. Their five-gallon exchange bottles are available at numerous retailers throughout Beaver County, and the dispensers have become common fixtures in homes and offices alike. The water is consistently good, the cost is reasonable, and exchanging bottles is considerably easier than wondering whether today’s tap water has developed a new personality.
There are, of course, other good options. Culligan continues to provide home delivery and water treatment systems. Many households are well served by refrigerator filters or under-sink activated carbon filtration systems, which do an excellent job reducing taste and odor problems. Even a simple countertop pitcher filter can make a noticeable difference.
I also happen to prefer using Primo bottles rather than risking municipal fluoridation. The debate over fluoridated water has become more complicated than it once was, and many Americans—this writer included—have decided they’d rather choose when and where they receive fluoride instead of having it added to every glass of water. If I feel an overwhelming urge to impress my dental hygienist at my next checkup, I can always spend a couple of dollars on a tube of Crest toothpaste at Dollar General. That strikes me as a more efficient delivery system.
The important point isn’t which company you choose.
It’s having a backup plan.
Our municipal water systems remain among the greatest public health achievements in American history. A century ago, diseases spread through contaminated drinking water with frightening regularity. Today, most of us complain because our water tastes funny.
That’s genuine progress.
Still, when your morning coffee begins carrying faint notes of wet leaves and swimming pool, it’s perfectly reasonable to seek an alternative until conditions improve.
Life is simply too short to spend it arguing with a glass of water.
