Ossining Water Is Safe To Drink: Officials

OSSINING, NY — Some Ossining residents have complained about the quality of the drinking water recently, mostly about the taste but also about how it looks. Ossining officials said they have conducted chemical and microbiological tests in the water system, and the water is safe to drink.

They said the reason for the problem is that New York City's Croton Reservoir, where Ossining gets most of its water from, is experiencing excessive mixing of bottom nutrients. That, officials said, is due to the erratic weather conditions.

"The results of all tests have been in the normal range, assuring that our drinking water remains safe," they said in an alert to residents. "We have been fine-tuning our treatment process in a responsible way to overcome this issue and have already gotten responses from residents that there has been some improvement."

Questions? Call 914-941-3554.

Ossining residents are not the only folks who've dealt with problems in the drinking water due to weather.

All fall, SUEZ in Rockland County was receiving complaints from customers about the taste, smell and look of the water.

That was also a weather problem: an unusually warm and dry August and September during which the breakdown of algae in the reservoir released natural compounds including geosmin. The naturally occurring compound is not harmful or toxic; however, the human nose is extremely sensitive to it.

SEE: Water Safe Despite Algae