Residents of Childress and other communities along U.S. Highway 287 have experienced some changes in their tap water. The water has seen a slight yellow pigmentation and a musty odor that waivers in its severity. The reason for the change is completely natural, and the water has passed every test for potability. It is safe to drink and use as normal.

I contacted Bobbie Kidd, who has worked for Greenbelt Water Authority since 1974. Greenbelt Water Authority supplies water to area communities including Clarendon, Childress, Hedley, Quanah, Crowell, and even the Red River Water Authority. Mr. Kidd was one hour into a four-hour job of washing filters, but after I explained the reason for the call was to ask some questions about the quality of the water, he asked, “Are you new to Childress?”

I have lived in Childress since 2006, and I have experienced occasional changes with our water since then. The drought that began in the 2010s is my last clear memory of a fairly drastic change in the water quality. Some residents may remember a faint to strong lake smell during that time. As Kidd explains, when you’re using surface water, the weather will cause changes in its appearance and other qualities. It is completely natural, and in opposition to the last drought and heat wave, this time the cause is a massive inflow of water. Greenbelt Lake, which is the water supply for Greenbelt Water Authority, rose by 2.5 feet between Memorial Day and Father’s Day this year. The lake caught over 900 million gallons of water. At normal usage, that is almost as much as Greenbelt Water Authority will supply over the course of a year.

One result of a lake rising is it expands; what was once the shore is now the lake bottom and everything on the shore is now in the lake. Mud, silt, and weeds get stirred up and suspended in the water and they find their way to the treatment center. Hot days, algae blooms, and other natural events also have an effect. Kidd explained their treatment process, which includes filtering, feeding activated carbon, manganese, ammonia, chlorine, and other elements and processes. Some of these may cause an odor, such as the ammonia/chlorine treatment which Kidd says may smell a little musty. Chlorine treatment may make the water smell more like bleach. The slight yellow color is from manganese. There are other treatments available, some experimental. Potassium Permanganate is one treatment Kidd has used in the past. He said he didn’t like it as much as manganese because of the staining it could cause, as the discoloration of the water was a more pronounced orange. He also wasn’t sure it was a healthier option because Potassium Permanganate is not a natural chemical. As for the manganese treatment Greenbelt Water Authority is currently using, Kidd says, “This stuff here just smells bad, but it’s not harmful at all.”

Another thing to consider is there are 30 million gallons of water in the system at any given time. With the heavy rains in Quanah and Crowell, two towns on the far end of the Greenbelt water system, water usage is down. A large percentage of usage during the hot and dry months of the year goes to lawns, gardens, cattle tanks, etc. Stock ponds are full, lawns are lush, and the water is moving slowly through the system. It is going to take a little longer than normal, but Kidd says we should start seeing some improvement in Childress by this weekend and in Quanah and Crowell in the days following that.