It’s OK Bay Area, drink your smelly water

For a city known for its widespread acceptance, San Franciscans can sure be crotchety. “It’s too damn foggy! It’s too flamin’ hot!” — and the thermometer barely fluctuates outside a seven-degree range.

But apparently we can also be water snobs.

During the past few days, at least 40 San Franciscans have issued complaints to the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission (SFPUC), reporting of a “musty aroma and odd flavor” from their tap water. According to the SFPUC water quality director Andrew DeGrace, it’s just a lil’ harmless blue green algae.

The algae is a side effect of a dam replacement project that requires lowering the water level of the Calaveras Reservoir. The increase of Calaveras water into Bay Area water lines is temporary, explained DeGrace, and the funk should be out of the water by the beginning of next week. Meanwhile, he reassured us that the amount of blue green algae is safe to drink — it’s just simply not what we’re used to.

“We have exceptionally high qualities of water,” said DeGrace. “So for us this is an elevated level (of algae), but for most water districts it’s a low level.”

In other words, it’s going to be OK everyone. We’re just drinking what other people usually drink.